Elastic Heart
by Emma51020
Summary: We can only stretch so far, and bend until we break. (Trigger Warning! Violence & Abuse Etc..)
1. Mr Owl

Hi everybody! I am back and writing my new story as you might've already read the title, "Elastic Heart". My main goal when writing is to express a life lesson such as you must learn to love yourself and your parents, no matter what obstacles get in the way. This story is going to be covering the topic of abuse, and I chose this topic because it is a very serious manner that must be addressed and ended in the world, because no one should lose their life to being hurt so many times. In this story Sarah and Jareth meet in another way, just a bit you might want to know!

I do not own Labyrinth in any way, shape or form. If I did, this would be a movie, and I would own every character.

Elastic Heart

Chapter one: Mr. Owl

It seemed that life was uneventful for the teenage girl who walked down the dank and narrow cobblestone pathway to her Uncle's house, humming softly under her breath as she went. The night sky was partly cloudy, but bright stars still shined through the almost transparent curtains, and the full moon illuminated the path far ahead of her, making little shapes from the shadows in the trees.

The teenage girl passed many people along the narrow pathway, all the while holding several grocery bags in each hand. Every face she saw come close to her she made a bright smile, making it appear as if she was happy in some way.

But the truth was, she wasn't.

No one noticed her slight limping or the glint of fear that shone in her eyes as she smiled. No one saw anything. As far as they knew, she was just a teenage girl coming home from grocery shopping.

The teenage girl's footsteps echoed softly as they met with small puddles, and her form shivered as the cold water hit her bare toes, which were only protected with a pair of brown weaved flip-flops. She wore a black tee-shirt that was much too big on her and went down to her knees while her torn blue denim shorts only went mid thigh. But to other people, she only appeared to be wearing a tee-shirt.

It took about a half-hour for the teenage girl to finish walking to her home, and by the time she had gotten to the front door to take out her keys the front door slammed open and a loud voice rang out.

"Sarah, why the hell are you so late?" the man, presumably he Uncle asked, both of his arms crossing over his chest. He looked to be about 5'11 and slightly overweight. He had slightly tanned skin and small wrinkles covered his forehead, expressing his age to be in the fifties. His eyes were brown and fueled with anger and his lips were drawn into a thin line, waiting for Sarah to respond. Sarah stuttered before answering in a fearful tone.

"There was a long line in the checkout center, and so I also had to wait until one of the machines was fixed until I could pay for it…" Sarah spoke up, but in a raspy voice. Quickly he grabbed her arm and yanked her into the house, slamming the door behind her. Her Uncle then continued to shove her into the kitchen and he pointed to the refrigerator in a drunken daze.

"Start cooking. Now!" He yelled at her. And with that he let go of her abused arm and he spun around to go and sit at the dining table on the opposite side of the room. The walls of the kitchen were a dark blue and the countertop was white with a few streaks of grey in the stone and the cabinets were mahogany with a black handle. Sarah opened the grocery bags in a rush and she took out the contents, three of the bags holding two cases of alcohol each. In only one of the bags, deli meat, bread and lettuce sat in, waiting to be assembled together in an infinite amount of combinations.

Sarah hurriedly put together a sandwich and she grabbed an alcohol bottle and she put them both on a metal tray together, where she then carried it over to her Uncle, who awaited his food. His sandwich contained of three slices of ham, seven slices of provolone and four slices of turkey, which was topped off with raisin bread. An involuntary shudder went down her spine, as she couldn't imagine eating a sandwich like that. But she would, because she was starving.

Her stomach rumbled in agreement.

Sarah placed the tray down in front of her Uncle and she popped the lid off of the bottle of alcohol. And within seconds after that, it was all gone. Satisfied with his drink he picked his sandwich up off the plate and he shoved it into his mouth, taking in the taste of the well organized food. Then all of a sudden, he paused. Slowly he took the sandwich from his lips and he took the top piece of bread off of the sandwich where he then inspected its contents. Then a growl emerged from his throat and he stood up quickly, where he then lunged towards Sarah, grabbing her by the throat tightly and slamming her against the nearest wall.

"THIS IS NOT THE HAM THAT I EAT. I TOLD YOU SPECIFICALLY LITTLE GIRL, THAT I EAT ROASTED HAM, NOT SMOKED!" He screamed at her, squeezing her throat a fraction tighter. Sarah swung her legs around aimlessly, missing her target by feet every time. But alas, the strong girl she once was, was no longer there.

She was only the shell of a girl that she used to know well.

Sarah's vision slowly began to fade to black and her eyes began to roll up into her head before she fell to the floor with a sickening thump. She coughed loudly as she attempted to stand up on wobbly legs, and she attempted to go in the fastest pace that she could to go to her room.

It took Sarah about a good ten minutes to walk down a dark hallway, a two story staircase and a ladder to get up to her room, the attic. Once Sarah was in her bedroom she pulled the ladder up behind her, closing the small square hole in the floor and locking it. She was only safe for now, but if she was lucky, she would have enough time to seal up her wounds once more before they were opened by the monster the was now pacing in the kitchen downstairs.

Sarah's bedroom was actually larger than most would expect an attic to be. The walls were a neutral grey color and the floor was a cherry wood, which glimmered with polyurethane. The ceiling was white and small fishing lines hung down from the ceiling; holding giant puffs on cotton balls together to make clouds with small blue fairy lights inside of it, making the room appear as if there was a thunderstorm inside the room.

But to her, it was serene and peaceful. It was her escape from the world. Despite that the clouds in the night sky only had soft, and yet dark blue, there was no moon or stars to illuminate the night. It was only darkness that shrouded around her. There was one window on either side of the room, which were rectangle shaped and large. In the window facing the backyard was her bed, which were only a few stained pillows and a thin crème colored sheet. And during the winter, there was no heat in the attic to keep her warm.

Her room had only a few pieces of furniture that decorated her room, which was mainly a creaky, off white colored chaise, a white vanity with a mirror and a small stepstool to sit on in front of the vanity. This was all she had, and all that she had known for as long as she could remember. Sarah made her way over to the vanity and she sat down, pulling out the single drawer that the vanity had and she took out a photo album.

She didn't hesitate for one second to open the book to rewind the memories from the past that began to play in her mind.

Ten years ago:

Six year old Sarah Williams sat on a white canopy bed with pink sheets and silk covered pillows with a brown stuffed teddy bear in her hand, which wore a red ribbon around its neck for being 'extra fancy' as the young Sarah liked to put it. The entire family was in the house, which were Sarah, Karen, Robert and a one month old Toby. Sarah jumped off of her bed and she began to run around until she opened her door, Lancelot still in hand, and she calmly hurried down the stairs.

As Sarah finish coming down the staircase a shadowy figure outside the window next to the front door caught her attention and she backed up slowly until her back collided with the wall. Then three loud shots rang out loudly and the door swung open, revealing several men all dressed in black wearing hockey masks to prevent anyone from knowing their true identity. Sarah quickly dodged for one of the men that tried to grab her and she scurried up the stairs and back into her room, where she slammed the door behind her and reached up to lock it, but she could hear the men nearing closer and closer to her room. So instinctively, she shut off the light and she squirmed to get underneath her bed.

As Sarah finished crawling underneath her bed her bedroom door slammed open loudly. And somewhere else in the house a very loud and feminine scream tore out and several gunshots went off. Then, there was nothing. The footsteps of the man in her room echoed loudly against the floor, and Sarah's small form trembled with fear.

She clutched Lancelot closer to her chest and she curled up into a ball.

"Come out, come out wherever you are, little Sarah. Or I will have no choice but to huff and puff and blow your little bed down." The man told her, his voice filled with sarcasm, which she couldn't understand at the time. She curled up into her ball even tighter and she began to whisper softly to herself, as well as rocking herself back and forth.

"I wish somebody would come and save me, I'm so scared, Lancelot…" Sarah kept repeating the last part over and over to her stuffed teddy bear. Nothing about her words were reassuring.

That's when Sarah felt her leg being pulled tightly and she was dragged out from underneath the bed. The masked man held Sarah down against the floor roughly, causing her to release Lancelot, and he began to take out a bottle and a cloth as Sarah began to scream loudly.

"SOMEBODY PLEASE SAVE ME, PLEASE! I WISH SOMEONE COULD SAVE ME!" She shrieked in an ear-piercing voice. No sooner after those words had left her mouth, her bedroom window shattered to pieces on the floor and a barn owl flew in, its talons stretched forward as it began to attack the masked man. The man screamed loudly as its claws began to scratch his eyes to the point that it would make him blind. Hearing the man's screams, the two other men who had invaded the house with him rushed into Sarah's bedroom, where they were then attacked by the mysterious barn owl as well, while their comrade now laid on the floor grabbing at his face. Sarah then took her chance and she sprinted out of her bedroom, down the stairs and out the front door, where police cars were beginning to pull up.

The first officer that Sarah spotted was a female officer, who looked to be about 21. Sarah, seeing the she didn't see her Dad or step-mother, ran over to the police woman and leaped into her arms, grabbing onto her uniform for dear life. Reassuringly the police woman patted her back and bounced her up and down in a soothing manner, all the while whispering words of encouragement in her ear. As she continued to take care of the little Sarah, the rest of the officers from seven other police cars charged into the house, which was then followed by screaming and a few more gunshots. A half hour later, all three men were handcuffed and being led out of the house and into separate police cars, all of them sending an evil glare over at Sarah, who buried her head in the police woman's neck.

"Don't worry sweetie, everything will be alright now." She told me in a soft voice. Suddenly, like an electric shock, Sarah jumped out of her arms and she ran back into the house, up the stair and into her room, where Lancelot lay forgotten on the floor with small specks of blood on his fur every here and there. Sarah then looked out the window and into the tree that stood right outside of it.

And there, perched on one of the dark brown branches, was the barn owl that had saved her life. Sarah then spoke up to talk to the barn owl, her eyes glazed with unshed tears but with a thankful look in them.

"Thank you Mr. Owl, if it weren't for you, those bad men would have done something very bad to me. I can never thank you enough, but thank you." Sarah told the barn owl sincerely. Almost as a human would, the owl bowed his head slightly once before taking off to fly into the moon, and where it once made an imprint as a shadow on the Moon, it disappeared.

Just like magic.

Sarah flipped though the small photo album that held only a few photos in it, tears coming to her eyes as her mind replayed the happy and sad memories that were left of the family that she had known. Robert, Karen and Toby had all been killed that very night, and Sarah was sent to live with her Uncle Phil due to the fact that no one actually knew where her actual birth mother was.

Uncle Phil had come off nice and friendly when the Child Protective Services had dropped her off at his very large home, but after that, it all went to Hell.

There were the constant screams that were sent Sarah's way and the amount of alcohol that he drank left a sickening smell inside of the house. This went on for several years until she was fourteen, and that was when he began to invite his "buddies" over. Sarah was forced to be the maid of the house and to serve dinner to all of them, and her Uncle allowed them to touch her in places that made her want to hurt them, but she knew the consequences if she protested against anything. And her punishments of being hit with beer bottles and being pushed down to the floor and carved with broken glass until she was bleeding out on the floor nearly killed her.

Not once did her ever send her to the hospital, because her Uncle Phil would really care less.

Sarah was beaten constantly by both his buddies and him, and it hurt even more when they were drunk, because they couldn't control themselves. Uncle Phil had his buddies over every Friday night for poker and the football game, and Sarah was forced to buy cartons of alcohol at a time, and that only made the grocery workers look at her strangely. Probably because they assumed that she was drinking at age sixteen.

Every now and again the barn owl would fly by the window, as if it was watching over her in a protective way, which made Sarah only feel a fraction safer. But as long as she wasn't allowed to get a job, due to Uncle Phil's orders, she couldn't save up any money to move out of the horror house that she currently lived in.

Every night since all those years ago from being dropped off at her Uncle Phil's house she would always ask herself…

"What did I do to deserve this?"

Sarah shook her head in an attempt to store the memories far away and deep back into her mind, and as she did so she slammed the photo album closed. Her elbows placed themselves on the vanity and her head was cushioned by her hands, which trembled slightly as she did so. Soon after contemplating for a while, Sarah stood up and took off the oversized black tee shirt, leaving her only in a white lace bra, which seemed far worn out and discolored and her torn denim shorts. Then Sarah looked at herself in the mirror.

Sarah's body not only showed the pain that she was forced to endure, but how malnourished she was as well. Sarah's skin was deathly pale and her entire rib cage could be seen, and the bones looked to be painfully tight against her skin. On her back, her vertebrae could be seen poking out between her shoulder blades. The denim shorts that she wore hung off of her hips limply and even looked too big on her.

Sarah looked at herself in the mirror, and she paid special attention to the purple and black bruises that spotted many areas on her back and shoulders. Bright white scars led from her shoulder blades to her lower back, looking as if she had been whipped millions of time. The scars on her body were uncountable.

Sarah's eyes traveled down her back and her legs, where green and yellow bruises were only beginning to heal. She felt disgusted with herself. Every night in her mind she would thank God for still being alive, despite the fact that the life that she lived made her want to leave this place, that she once thought would be home to her.

Sarah raised her wrist up to her face to inspect the fresh cut that was beginning to heal, the red and pink skin inside mixed horribly with the her deathly white skin. Slowly, Sarah took one of her sharp fingernails and drove it deep into the cut, and she watched as the blood slowly pooled inside the cut and leaked down her arm.

As Sarah raised her fingernail once more to the bleeding cut a soft noise echoed at the window and the barn owl flew into the room and perched atop her vanity mirror. Sarah quickly wiped the blood on her denim shorts and she moved her wrist so it rested behind her back, and she spoke up, moving over to her bed.

"Coming in to check on me again? You know you don't have to do that…" Sarah trailed off slowly as she took a seat on her bed, her eyes not leaving the owl's for a second.

The owl hooted several times, as if it were trying to form a sentence. The barn owl then spread its wings and flew gracefully across the room to perch itself on the pillow next to Sarah, who involuntarily raised her bleeding hand to pet the owl. With her other hand, Sarah pulled a trundle out from under the bed and she picked out a red camisole and put it on, where she then pushed the trundle back into its hiding spot. Sarah moved her hand away from the owl so she could put on her shirt, and after that she stood up to turn off the light. Sarah pulled the small string with her fingers and the room went dark, but was then illuminated with soft blue lights from the clouds that hung in her room. As Sarah turned around to get into bed, the light from the Moon slowly traveled up her figure, making her skin even paler than it already was.

Sarah climbed into her bed and she pulled up the thin sheet over her small form. Sarah shrugged her shots off when she was completely under the blanket, where she then kicked it off of the bed and onto the floor. The barn owl hooted once more and it gracefully leaped up and landed in the junction next to her neck, where it nuzzled its head softly against her ear. Sarah giggled, and it was such a sweet sound for a girl who did not smile anymore.

The barn owl then nudged its head to her sliced up wrist, which rested on her upper chest and right in its view. Sarah's eyes darted between the owl and her wrist before she responded back to the owl.

"This? It's nothing." Sarah told the barn owl calmly. The barn owl hooted loudly in protest.

"Relax, it doesn't even hurt anymore. Nothing I'm not used to…" Sarah trailed off, moving her head to look out her window at the Moon, which shined brightly in its fully glory. The barn owl hooted again, this time a little less loudly and more in a pitying tone.

"I'm going to tell you something that I have always kept to myself, and although you only "talk" to me, I don't want you to go telling any of your little friends, but….. Sometimes I wish you hadn't saved me from those horrible men, and just let me die right then and there. My Uncle Phil and his so called "buddies" hurt me every Friday night, but Uncle Phil does it on a daily basis. I feel like if I had just died then, I wouldn't have to feel all of this pain now….." Sarah trailed off, but she soon continued to speak seconds later.

"For the last ten years I have lived here, I have not spoken to anyone on the outside world, not even the kind people at the grocery store that work at the cash registers. I tell myself that the pain will go away really soon…" Sarah looked down at her wrist and she carefully inspected it." And that's why I've tried to kill myself before. One day I will be too weak and forget to lock that door, and it will all end. But the truth is, I want to die, but I'm too scared to." By now waterfalls were cascading down her cheeks and she moved her good hand to cover her mouth to stifle her sobs, which wracked through her body and made her body move uncontrollably.

"I just wish somebody could take me away from this awful place, anybody. I would love to be you for a night, Mr. Owl. I would love to feel the wind beneath my wings and know that I'm free, even if it would just be for one night. I'm glad that you're the only friend that I can actually trust, but I just wish that you could speak too." And with that Sarah's sobs immediately stopped and she fell into a deep sleep, her expression changing from one of sadness to calm. The barn owl let out a mournful hoot and it nuzzled its head and closed its eyes, burying its head into the crook of Sarah's neck.

And there, they both slept, currently unaware of the plotting monster who sat downstairs in the dining room.

Dawn soon approached and the sun shone brightly in the barn owl's eyes, making it stir and shake its head. Slowly the barn owl's eyes opened and it looked down at Sarah's sleeping face, which looked so peaceful compared to the sad speech that she had told it last night, her face being one of pure sadness and terror as another day of pain awaited her. The barn owl moved closer to Sarah and it touched its beak against her lips, as if it wanted to express the feelings that it felt for her.

Seconds later it spread its wings and it flew out her open window and towards the Moon, where it was beginning to fade into the horizon.

Once more the barn owl disappeared like magic.

The barn owl hooted softly as the cold wind blew harshly under its feathers' as it neared closer and closer to the Moon. Suddenly like greased lightning, its speed sped up and a kaleidoscope of colors washed around it and the beautiful scenery of the Moon disappeared, and it was immediately replaced with a light lavender and blue sky and the sun shone brightly as it sunk beyond the horizon. Below the owl an array of colors went in a certain order and their shapes were rectangular, squares and every shape that could exist, and the entire land was a labyrinth.

As it flew over the outskirts of a large city, a large forest and junkyard could be spotted, which was coated in what seemed to look like million specks of glitter. The barn owl soon flew over the large city, while strange creatures below bustled around on the sandy streets. Vendors sold their products and children played with their friends, poking chickens around with large sticks while armored guards rose something that looked like a miniature form of a dinosaur. Ahead of the barn owl's view was a giant castle that was pale dusty color and was surrounded by jagged rocks. From the city to the castle seemed to look like it had millions of steps, almost like an endless journey for the army that was stationed there.

The barn owl soon approached a balcony on the other side of the castle, which looked out to a large ocean with a small beach, which made the land look even more beautiful as a mysterious creation than it already was. The owl's shadow soon got larger and more human like as it neared closer. Soon the barn owl was gone and a man wearing a poet's shirt, tight breeches, leather knee-high boots and an oddly shaped pendant landed on the balcony, and he quickly promenaded inside the castle where he was then approached by one of the strange creatures, who immediately bowed to him and spoke up.

"Your Highness, in your absence your Father arrived with an urgent message." The creature told him, his voice thick with urgency as well. The man, now revealed to be royalty spoke up once more.

"Is my Father still here?" He asked the strange creature. The creature nodded.

"Your Father is in the Library, my King." The creature told the King, his head moving in the direction towards the library.

"Thank you, Kerberos. You may resume to your duties now." The King told Kerberos. Kerberos bowed his head once more to his King before he spun around and marched into the hallway directly across the room. The King followed him in suit for several minutes until he reached the library, where Kerberos continued to march on. The King then continued in his actions and he pushed the library door open, and there stood a man in the middle of the room, who look to be in his late sixties, about 6'3 and wore a heavy dark brown dress robe with black breeches and a grey cotton shirt that scooped slightly at his neck. On his feet he wore brown leather boots that went up to just below his knees. His father's eyes met his and his voice rang out loud and clear throughout the room.

"Jareth, my son, how nice of you to join me on this fine evening…" The High King warmly greeted to him. Jareth bowed slightly and he walked over to where his father stood, a questioning look written on his features.

"Father, why have you come here during such a busy season? I did not expect for your arrival until the winter solstice…" Jareth asked his Father, slowly trailing off as he spoke out.

"I have come here with urgent news with your coming of age as King of the Goblins. Jareth, within this year until next year's Winter Solstice you are to find a Queen to rule beside you. That is all the news that I have, but you know how fast our time goes down here in the Underground, Jareth. Am I clear?" The High King asked his Son, who shook his head and began to pace around the room. Jareth mumbled to himself as his father watched his almost silent breakdown. He knew his son well enough to know that something like this was major to him. Jareth's head slowly rose to meet his Father's a few minutes later.

"Don't expect this to happen so soon, Father. This will take a very long time for me to sort out. Now am I clear to you?" Jareth asked his Father with dark eyes. The High King nodded.

"Crystal." And with that, the High King disappeared, leaving Jareth in deep thought with the idea of marriage. But for the moment, his mind was not only focused on his new dilemma, but the fragile girl who had admitted everything she thought to him, unknowing that he was a Fae, or in other words, somewhat human like her. Jareth, whose mind was now completely focused on Sarah, summoned up a clear crystal ball that sat in his hand. Jareth flexed his wrist and arms several times as he took a seat in one of the black leather armchairs that sat in the middle of the library.

Inside the crystal, the image of a stirring Sarah played through the crystal like a video camera, crystal clear and focused.

Sarah stirred slightly as she heard her Uncle's voice yelling her name from the first floor, and begrudgingly, she swung her legs off of the bed and she pulled out the secret trundle from under her bed and she pulled out another pair of shorts, which she quickly put on, which followed with a dark blue tee-shirt that hugged her curves. Sarah slipped on a pair of non-matching socks and she pushed the trundle back under the bed and she stood up, grabbing the key to unlock the floor door and she grabbed a sharpie marker, crossing off the "Friday" on her calendar. And hesitantly, she bent down and unlocked the floor door.

And for her, it was only another day of torture…

Hi everybody! I'm so happy that I'm now working on my Talenti Jar story, "Elastic Heart." I hope that I do get to see new and old reviewers from my previous story, and that I will probably only be updating once a week due to the fact that it take a while for my mind to process the amount of words I actually want to put in the chapter and what I want to happen in the chapter, so I will definitely not be updating every other day. The rating for this story may change later… Let me know what you think of my new story be reviewing, following or favoriting my story! Love you all!

-Emma51020


	2. Better Place

Hi everybody! I hope that you guys liked the first chapter of my new story, "Elastic Heart". I will be posting the poem on my profile page probably before or after I post this new chapter so…..yeah. So for this Talenti Jar Challenge my goal is to reach 100K so this will probably take me a good two or three months to write so please stick with me as I continue to write this new story. But anyways, if anyone can let me know how to do a line across the screen that can separate different people and different places, it would be helpful instead of putting x's and other weird symbols that won't appear when I post the chapter… But anyways, let's get on with the story.

I do not own Labyrinth in any way, shape or form. I do, however, own the movie and a stuffed Ludo.

Elastic Heart

Chapter two: Better Place

Sarah opened the hatch on her floor and she climbed down the long ladder, moving steadily so she wouldn't slip. Once her feet collided with the second story floor she pulled string on the ladder, making it retract and flow back up to the ceiling smoothly and quickly. During the entire time she had gotten up, got dressed and climbed down the ladder, her thoughts had fled after the barn owl the she had called her friend. It was a heavy weight off of her shoulders, and it was like talking to an actual human just like her. When she was sad, he was sad and when she needed to cry on someone's shoulder, he was there for her.

But a very long time ago, she learned that there was no such thing as your wishes being granted by a shooting star. Rather, to her, a shooting star was now only a flaming meteor flying across Earth's orbit that was rare sight to see. As Sarah contemplated, the voices in the outside world only began to get louder, until the source of the voice was standing right behind her.

"Why the fuck are you not making my breakfast? Get cooking now!" Uncle Phil demanded, grabbing strands of Sarah's hair and pulling on it tightly, where he then continued to shove her down the hallways. Sarah hung her head down low as her Uncle Phil continued to shout at her, but she quickly sped up her pace and she sped down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she began to cook breakfast for the single person that now sat at the table.

Sarah spent a good five minutes fixing up a smoothie for her Uncle Phil, and the entire time she could feel his eyes watching her actions closely. Knowing that he wouldn't look away until everything that he wanted in his smoothie was there, Sarah pulled a beer bottle out of one of the three grocery bags from last night and she popped off the lid, pouring the brown liquid into the cup. As Sarah had been pulling out the bottle, her eyes had darted to the insides each bag, one of which was empty but the other two previously holding two beer packs each. Almost half of them were gone. Sarah quickly jarred herself from her thoughts and she continued to finish putting in some other ingredients before she twisted the lid onto the smoothie cup and she placed the cup into the Nutribullet, where she gently pressed down and the wheel inside roared to life with a loud noise which filled the previously silent room.

This was her life on a daily basis.

After listening to the sound of sloshing liquid inside of the cup, Sarah quickly pulled it out of the Nutribullet, took off the lid and poured it all into a plastic cup until it was empty. Sarah then put the now empty smoothie cup into the sink and she picked up the cup of smoothie beer and she placed it on the table before her Uncle Phil, who stared her down with a bored look. His eyes soon moved from her and he picked up the cup and took a small sip of his smoothie. Satisfied with his drink, he waved her off, signaling that she could start cleaning the house from the top to bottom.

Then, she had to make dinner for her Uncle Phil and his "buddies". Something that she certainly didn't look forward to doing. Not needing any other excuse to leave her Uncle Phil's sight, Sarah quickly paced out of the room and up the stairs, where the broom closet awaited its opening for what seemed to feel like a million times. Maybe it was and she just lost count. Sarah stopped at the top of the stairs, where the broom closet was and she opened the wooden pantry-like doors casually, where she began to gather cleaning supplies and place then into an empty mop bucket.

Sarah soon finished shuffling through the broom closet for cleaning supplies and she used the dry mop itself to move the bucket full of cleaning supplies around. Sarah glided across the hallways to the far back door, which led to one of the guest bathrooms, which was attached to the guest room on its right. Sarah spent about a half hour wiping down the dust that had formed in the cracks of windowsills and corners of the floor, and every spec k of dust flew up into the air as if it were on the Moon, weightless.

After Sarah finished cleaning the bathroom, her next objective became the guest bedroom, which consisted only of a queen-sized bed and a large dresser with a light brown lamp with a white shade. The wall was painted a forest green hue and the flooring was a white carpet, which felt cool against Sarah's feet, due to the air vent that blew out cold air near the air that she stood in. Sarah shivered, but she quickly composed herself and crouched down, where she then began to pull several cleaning supplies out of the mop bucket. Sarah began her cleaning of the room by starting with the wooden dresser, which stood three drawers tall with brass handles to pull them out, and the wheels inside, which made them slide out smoothly. Sarah took the bottle of Pledge in her hand and she continued to spray the white creamy substance in a horizontal line from both ends of the dresser, where she then wiped down the dresser with a torn up rag.

After spending several minutes wiping down every square millimeter of dusty wood, Sarah took a wet rag like the one she had used to wipe down the dresser with and she began to wipe off the dust that had coated the lovely detail on the base of the lampshade. As Sarah carefully cleaned each detail she inspected the design on it. The base of the lamp was a light brown, almost compared to the trunk of a tree, and jagged lines vertically trailed up the base, leading up to the inside of the shade where several metal branches held the shade and light bulb in place. As Sarah finished up cleaning the lamp, which took longer than it usually would for her to, she spun around to check the time on the clock, which hung above the door leading into the room.

It was only eight thirty in the morning.

Sarah stared at the clock for what seemed to feel like hours, but seconds ticked by, and soon, the minutes as well. Sarah shook her head, releasing her out of the stupor that held her hostage and she peered up at the clock once more to check the time. Eight forty. Then a thought ran through her mind.

 _'_ _It's only just another day.'_ Her mind tried to reassure her, but it felt like a cold hand on her shoulder, which in no way shape or form, was reassuring. And with another sigh, Sarah crouched down and she began to place the cleaning supplies back into the mop bucket, her hands shaking slightly as she did so. Sarah's mind screamed for her hand to stop its quivering, while another part of her mind hollered to run. Defying her mind, Sarah finished placing the supplies into the water-less mop bucket and she grabbed the mop handle and she pushed, the four wheels on the bottom turning in their ordered direction.

'But they're going the wrong way! Run!' Sarah's mind screamed, but she kept pushing it away. She then halted in the middle of the hallway. And suddenly, she couldn't even remember what she was doing, she now stood there aimlessly, no quests in her mind any longer. In a dazed confusion Sarah walked into the bathroom, which she had just cleaned, leaving the cleaning supplies abandoned in the hallway, and she closed the door behind her, once hearing the resounding click she locked the door. Sarah turned her gaze away from the door and she spun around to face one of her nightmares. Not one that could hurt her physically or verbally, but mentally. It was as if she had forgotten herself and who she really was as she stared at the ugly creature in the mirror. She recoiled as if she had just been whipped; her back now pressed flat against the bathroom door and her right hand flew to her heart. Sarah panted quickly and almost inaudibly, like a mouse's intake of breath. Hesitantly, she raised her left foot into the air only to collide it with the ground once more, several inches away from her right foot. She continued this motion for several moments until she paused, her gaze never once wavering away from the creature in the mirror.

As Sarah extended her finger towards the mirror a loud noise rang out loudly outside the locked bathroom door, but Sarah, still in her trance-like state, couldn't hear anything but a soft ringing in her ears, almost like church bells echoing in a far distance. But the nearest church was on the other side of town. Sarah's finger soon collided with the mirror, whose reflection rippled in response like a single droplet on a serene lake. She wanted to keep penetrating her finger into the mirror, but something pulled at her heartstrings at the same time. Sarah continued to stretch her fingers through the mirror and more rippling waves fanned out around the protruding finger, almost in a calming manner. Sarah watched dazedly as her fingers disappeared through the mirror, her eyes clouded with a confused wonder. She began to take small steps closer to the mirror as her hand traveled into the mirror further, and just as she was about to poke her head into the secret world behind the mirror….

A hand grabbed her shoulder roughly and pulled her back, and the absent body parts returned back into the real world, and the ugly creature in the mirror was now no more than a reflection to her. Sarah was jerked out of her daze as the oh-so familiar hand collided with her shoulder, and she quickly spun around to face the dark aura that was her Uncle Phil. Sarah quickly thought about raising her hand to smack him across the face with all the strength she had, but decided against it.

But then her Uncle Phil's hand was raised up and flew across her bony cheeks, shooting her head to the left and leaving Sarah with regret, a burn like a fire and scratch marks like a vicious cat had scratched her, leaving small dots of blood to rise above the nasty pink and white skin the stood up amongst the thin layer of skin that was her cheekbone. Hesitantly, Sarah's head turned to meet her Uncle Phil's angry eyes, which seemed to almost burn, and she was melting, she was like jelly, she couldn't control her movements. Then a loud voice rang out in the small room.

"WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU NOT WORKING, YOU FILTHY BITCH?!" Sarah winced at his piercing voice, which seemed loud enough to crack the mirror, as an opera singer would with a wine glass. Instinctively, Sarah's head bent down and her hair covered her face, and her dark hair contrasted greatly with her pale skin, which seemed to be almost white. It was almost like something that you would see in a horror movie, only she wasn't shaking from the paranormal and the unknown, she was shaking from fear for more pain. Hesitantly, the invisible stitches snapped apart and Sarah's soft voice squeaked out from her thin lips, which were tinged with a mix of a soft pink and blue hue, almost deathly like.

"I don't know….. I don't remember." And with that, her lips sewed themselves shut, and her ears tuned in and out to make the shouts that were about to be shot at her, not as loud. The angry voice then coughed loudly and spoke in a loud, raspy voice.

"THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING, BITCH. NOW GET TO WORK!" And with that, her Uncle whacked her across the head, where he then spun around and walked out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Sarah's head spun and she wobbled on her feet, and she collapsed in the middle of the room and onto the floor, where she sat on the floor, her legs extended to the extent that the pads of her feet touched the wall. Sarah raised her right hand and rubbed at her aching scalp, all the while peering up at the mirror, whose reflection only showed the bathroom wall.

After a few minutes Sarah stood up with the help of the white ceramic bathroom sink and she turned around, opening the bathroom door, shutting off the light and closing the door behind her. Little did she know of the hauntingly blue and green mismatched eyes glowing in the darkness of the room in the bathroom mirror, watching every movement she made. A soft sigh ringed out throughout the dark room and they camouflaged themselves with the darkness of the bathroom.

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Jareth sighed in his mind in disappointment as he watched Sarah's Uncle abuse her, and he wondered why she let this happen to her. He knew that he couldn't help her unless she asked for help, but the invisible stitches in her lips made it impossible for her to speak. Jareth wanted to tear his gaze away from the sight of his Sarah collapsing onto the tiled floor, but he didn't want to leave her alone, he was her most-of-the-time invisible guardian, but he would flee to her as a way to escape his duties as the "Mr. Owl" that she had come to know somewhat well. Once again, he sighed as Sarah shut off the bathroom lights and closed the door, as if she was shutting him out, leaving him in the dark unknowingly. And with a flick of his hand, the crystal in his hand disappeared.

Jareth sat up abruptly in the black leather armchair and he stood up, stretching after he did so. Throughout the empty library, soft cracks and pops could be heard from him, some sounding somewhat painful and sickening. After stretching Jareth turned towards the cherry wooden door and he began striding towards it, reaching his hand out instinctively as he neared closer to the brass knob. After reaching the door, his hand collided with the brass knob and he twisted it, the door opening with a rusty creaking sound. Jareth didn't bother closing the door as he made a sharp right out of the library and down the seemingly endless sandstone-giant-brick hallway.

As Jareth made his way down the hallway, goblins bustled around, some hurriedly, some promenading as if they had nothing better to do. The hallway was filled with loud chatter, laughing and groaning about anything that was worth talking about. Jareth rolled his eyes at the amount of noise that was being given off overall and with a wave of his hand the hallway went silent, but the goblins continued to walk around as if nothing had happened to them. Their mouths continued to move, however, as goblins chatted with others. Jareth grinned wickedly at the success of his magic created the peaceful silence, save for the many footsteps pattering on the ground, which was easily remedied by another flick of his wrist. Now the only noise that could be heard was Jareth's large strides as he strolled down the seemingly endless hallway.

As Jareth walked, he contemplated. He knew that if his Father wanted him to be married by the Winter Solstice, then he would have to find his bride, but at the same time, there was a nagging feeling that was tugging at his heartstrings, telling him that he had already found his future bride. He let out a deep sigh as he navigated his way through the castle.

'Being a King really does suck sometimes, doesn't it?' Jareth told himself, obviously the question being upright rhetorical. Just as Jareth peered up to open the door that he was approaching quickly a slightly smaller figure rammed into him, and he hoped to the High Council that it was accidentally. He looked down at the brown and green figure. Kerberos. For several seconds, Jareth watched as Kerberos switched his positions on the floor until it was comfortable enough to stand up by one foot and a knee, and then to both feet and standing tall, but Jareth still towered over him as if he were a giraffe.

"It seems that despite your daily routines around this…. Place, you still have trouble regaining your balance when it comes to oncoming steps down, did you know that?"

"Well, it's quite more than often that I have my fair share, but we have also noticed that you tend to trip over your own feet on more than one occasion as well, your Majesty, not to mention that I'm the only person who knows that you use magic to cover up every mistake you have mode, and will still continue to make." Came the truthful response from Kerberos. Hearing how long his short speech was, Jareth lazily wove his hand out at him and constantly bent it downwards, in short, only listening to his first part of the speech, and then Jareth spoke out.

"Kerberos, by now you must know that I, being your king, have more important things that I could be doing at the moment, rather than listening to you lecture about my faults."

"Jareth, if you had not wanted to listen to my words, then you would've already walked away by now, or poofed out of the room, which leaves us choking on our own breaths due to that god damn glitter, thank you very much." He remarked sarcastically. Jareth's eyes narrowed towards Kerberos. The grin that had once sat on his face for mere moments of silence shrunk into a frown, the skin near his lips crinkling slightly.

"You dare call me by my name, Kerberos? Let me remind you that I am your King, and you shall call me by my given title. Status is what keeps us upright in this…" Jareth paused for a moment as a continuous flow of words rushed through his mind."- Berserk- stench contaminated world. This is your only warning, Kerberos, be lucky, for that I give nobody else second chances." He spat at Kerberos, who still stood tall on his feet, his expression fierce with a grin of determination, which caused all the wrinkles on his forehead to come together, forming a wave that was similar to the ocean.

Kerberos was an old goblin, and for as many as other have known, since the ancient times. There had never been one royal birth that been missed, a ball that went un-waltzed or a coronation that came without its future king. Kerberos had been there for everything, had seen everything, and had planned everything in life to go perfect. Seeing the career he had now as the general of an army of goblins, he had thought that it would be the perfect role for him in his life, despite his age and size. But after seeing how tough of a job it really was, which involved ceasing the noises of what seemed to be millions of goblins and making sure they had enough food with the best military training he could give, he was still content with what he had, and what he would hope would be his job for the rest of his life.

"Jareth, you seem to forget that although you are my king, I am your _elder,_ something that you probably don't understand whatsoever. I am far beyond the term of "old", and I highly suggest that you treat me the same way that you would treat your mother and father…. Hmmmmm?" Kerberos eyes narrowed towards the towering Goblin King, whose frown still remained. They remained in these positions for several minutes, goblins passing them with each second that surrounded them in what seemed to be an invisible ball. Jareth scoffed.

"You want me to treat you like how I treat my Mother and Father? By now you must know about my daily arguments with both, for I am known to have an extremely loud voice." Jareth hinted. Kerberos shook his head, the palm of his hand on his face with his fingers outstretched." You want me to treat you like complete shit?" He questioned.

"Let me take my previous comment back, I highly suggest that you treat me like that girl... what's her name?…." He paused for several second."Ah! Yes, that Sarah girl! How about you treat me like you treat her? It can't possibly hurt that bad, can it?" He inquired loudly, his hand tearing itself from his face, leaving a red mark in its place, but was quickly recovered with green. Kerberos could've sworn that he saw Jareth's cheeks turn a very faint pink hue before returning back to their pale color, almost death-like. Jareth slowly took several steps forward and he placed his right hand on Kerberos's left shoulder.

"Kerberos, while I know that you wish to be treated with the upmost of respect, I must say now that you will never be treated as Sarah is. The girl is an angel brought from Heaven, at yet, her wings are being clipped and she doesn't fly away. Soon enough, I will be the one standing on ground and be ready to catch her, but then it's a long way back to the top without wings .It is then, that I believe, that there are invisible steps, very small, but they are there." He spoke out, drifting from the topic of respect to the Girl who called him "Mr. Owl.".

Realizing what his king had just said he merely picked the heavy hand off of his shoulder and he watched as it swung back to rest beside Jareth's hip. Kerberos then spun around and walked his dutiful ways once more, leaving Jareth to contemplate his thoughts. In the once crowded hallway.

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Sarah stood at the Crockpot that sat on the island in the kitchen, a fork and knife in hand as she pulled the meat off of the barbecued ribs. After leaving the bathroom, Sarah had gotten her act together and cleaned the entire house from top to bottom. The floors were immaculate and the walls were faultless without their beer stains and blood. This had become her daily routine, where she believed most girls her age would be on dates or attending school. But since she was ten, she had not been allowed to go to school, for her Uncle Phil wanted to keep the secret of abuse inside the house, rather than the entire neighborhood hearing the story and him being carted off to the local jail until further notice. Her only good reason for leaving the house was grocery shopping, because every morning would be the same, her Uncle would be passed out on the couch, having drunk too much the night before and would have too bad of a hangover to get to the supermarket.

Sometimes, Sarah wanted to believe that the Hell that she was in was especially made for her.

As she pulled the tender meat off of the ribs, echoes could be heard from the room across the hallway, where her Uncle Phil and three buddies, Nicolas, Jacob and Devin, sat on a black leather couch, a beer in their hands while they cheered on during the football game which played on the small television in the room. Every time a goal was made they would jump out of their seats and beer would fly out of their brown bottles and fly onto the grey carpet, some leaving stains that are almost impossible to get out.

Sarah turned her head to the hallway and she quickly darted her eyes back to the ribs, not wanting to stab herself with the knife in her hand. And yet, it could all just all end with the tip of the knife, just push it in.' _It's almost over'_ , Sarah kept telling herself in her mind as she continued to pull the meat off of the ribs. She believed that one day, God willing, she would be able to escape her Hell, leave the memories to burn in the house that she wished she could set on fire with the damned beer. But no, they would burn inside her mind forever, leaving big gaps unfilled, unloved, unseen, damaged and destroyed.

 _A cheer erupted from the hall._

Sarah pulled the meatless ribs out of the Crockpot and into the garbage can, and she watched as the barbecue sauce slid down the sides of it, where it dripped onto the floor with a small splashing sound. Sarah watched this process closely, as if she was possessed. It felt, as if she was almost captivated by the dry color of blood.

 _Another cheer rang out, more loudly than the previous one_.

After all of the bones from the ribs were in the garbage can, Sarah felt an urge to slam the garbage can shut, to let all of her anger out on a wooden garbage can that had done nothing to her. Suddenly, the blood underneath her skin felt like it was burning her from the inside, as if it wanted to tear her apart. Sarah, realizing that her anger was getting the best of her, shook out of her stupor and she closed the lid to the garbage can quietly. She then made her way back to the island, where she reached up into the wooden cabinets and got out four bowls, where she then continued to pour the meat from the ribs equally into each bowl, leaving nothing for her. The bowls were then moved onto a silver metal tray and forks, spoons, cups, beer packages and potato chips were added onto the tray as well, making it overbearingly heavy, especially with the beer packages. Once the tray was fully loaded with the necessities for dinner, Sarah scooped the tray up into her hands and she spun towards the hallway, where she then began walking in a normal pace. She just wanted to get it done and over with it.

 _Another cheer blasted out of the room loudly._

Once Sarah reached the doorway to the family room, she nudged the door open with her elbow, and then all eyes landed on her. In their gaze, she felt as if they were undressing her, raping her… killing her. Snapping out of her momentary trance, Sarah walked over to the table and paused to place the silver tray on the glass table with four mahogany supporting legs. Peering up quickly, Sarah noticed that their facial expressions were made into mischievous grins and their eyes darkened, as if something was possessing them all at once. An uneasy feeling roused in Sarah's stomach and her legs trembled slightly as their hands reached out towards her instead of the food. Then she felt something caress her bottom. And that was all it took.

Sarah spun around and she whacked the offending hand off of her and she made a run out of the family room, not looking back. Sarah sprinted to the front door and she jiggled the brass knob. It was locked. Sarah peered around quickly, trying to find another door that she could escape from. Screw the fact that she would be leaving everything behind.

A cheer of shouting erupted loudly, making Sarah cringe at the horrible symphony.

Sarah spun around, panicking as she heard their footsteps coming closer in a hurry. Panicking, Sarah lunged up the stairs, raced around the corridor and stopped in the middle of the second floor hallways, where she reached up and pulled the rope to unlock her latch. Completing the unlocking process in a record time, Sarah watched as the makeshift ladder dropped down and she grappled onto it for dear life as she began to scramble up the ladder. As Sarah flailed her arms out in front of her as she grabbed her floor board with her tiny fingernails. As she pulled herself upright into her room, another hand grabbed her, only this time it was at her ankle, making Sarah screamed and stumble, landing on her bony stomach. She moaned loudly in pain at the feeling of her bones colliding against her wooden floor.

The hand that had grabbed Sarah's ankle climbed up the ladder further, revealing himself to be Nicolas, the worst of the buddies. He had been overall rated by Sarah as more perverted than her own Uncle; mainly for the fact that she knew that she was his main target. Those eyes darkened more than any others, and his teeth were a heavy yellow hue. Sarah quickly shook her ankle and lunged it into Nicolas's face; giving him a bloody nose and making his grip weaken. Taking the opportunity, Sarah ran over to her window and slammed it open, screaming out as if there was a bloody murder.

"SOMEBODY, HEL-"Sarah was cut off with a rough hand around her mouth and a cool feeling at her neck. She stiffened, not wanting to face the punishment of moving. _'But I could finally be free now; all I have to do is move forward.'_ Sarah thought quickly. At her ear, she could feel his warm breath against her ear, his breath heavy with alcohol. Then he whispered in her ear.

"That's right, I have you now bitch. Now here's what you're going to do. You will lay you pretty ass on that cushion and you will strip for me." He whispered huskily. Sarah shivered, there was no way she was going to let her purity die with her body. She would try to fight, but in the end, she knew that it wouldn't be her winning, but it was better to try than to do nothing. As he began to lead her towards the chaise in the middle of the room, Sarah stomped on his foot and bit on his hand in sync, and that was when she screamed again.

"LET ME GO YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE! SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME! SOMEBODY TAKE ME AWAY FREOM THIS PLACE!" Sarah cried out, tears falling from her eyes in a desperate attempt to escape. Nicolas screamed in pain from the contact and seeing that he no longer had the knife at her neck, slashed constantly at her back, blood trailing down quickly from her shirt to her pants and to the floor, as if it was racing each droplet. Soon enough Sarah collapsed, weakened by her wounds.

"ONE OF YOU ASSHOLES HELP ME UP HERE!" Nicolas screamed down the ladder as he began to pin Sarah down once more. Soon enough loud footsteps were heard and the ladder shook, and there came Uncle Phil, Devin and Jacob, whose eyes narrowed at the sight of a bloody Sarah on the floor. Then their grins returned and they all lunged for different body parts to hold down as she flailed around. Taking Nicolas's knife, Uncle Phil proceeded to bring it down the front of Sarah's shirt, exposing her bony stomach and chest, which was covered by a bra. Licking his lips, her Uncle Phil dragged the cold metal across her stomach and he then brought it down once more harshly, dragging it deeply down her stomach and then across, making a cross. All the while, Sarah screamed in pain. Sarah felt the cool air against the blood that trailed down the sides of her stomach, and soon, she felt the air around her breasts being exposed. She kicked her legs more.

Sarah felt disgusted at the rough hands that groped at her inappropriately, and soon it was their breaths and mouths.

Sarah bit down once more on the hand that covered her mouth and she screamed loudly." SOMEBODY HELP ME PLEASE!" She begged. And almost like magic, their prying and perverted hands were no longer on her. Sarah opened her eyes slowly, her vision swimming. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could make out the special white barn owl that flew through her window and began to attack all four men, who began to fight back against the owl's sharp talons. Big mistake. After hearing what seemed to feel like hours of grunts and screaming, there was silence. Out of the corner of her eyes, Sarah swore that she saw her "Mr. Owl" morph into a man. Was she dreaming or having hallucinations?

Loud, and yet slow footsteps could be heard as the strange man approached her, sadly though, she couldn't make out his face, for her everything was dancing. Soon warm arms enveloped her and she felt his bore into hers, and for some reason, she felt safe. She felt as if she was in heaven… as if she was home. She was in a better place.

"Sarah…." The man said smoothly.

And that was when darkness overtook her.

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Hi everybody, I am so sorry for not updating for a month. This was because I had big tests, my best friend coming out from another state with some other family members, and now I'm out on vacation with them! So yeah, that happened. I would like the thank one of my followers for keeping in touch with me and providing me with a bunch of ideas involving Chick-fil-a's "Peach Smoothies", so thank you! I will try to update and type as much as I can, but like I said, I am in fact, on vacation and out-of-state. Make sure you review, favorite, or follow my story and I will see you soon! Love you all!

-Emma51020


	3. Owls Can Only Hoot, Not Speak

Hi everybody! I am writing this in advance and will most likely take me a couple of weeks to make, sooo…. Yeah. But getting to the point, I just shopped at an Old Navy and I am loving the clothes that I picked out. Just to remind everybody after a review that I received when I first started the story. I was in no way shape or form harmed by anyone or anything, this is simply a story made up from other fanfictions, so there you have it!

Just a disclaimer that I do not own Labyrinth in any way, shape or form. If I did, I would be directing a romance movie between Jareth and Sarah. And it would be set in present-day times.

Elastic Heart

Chapter three: Owls Can Only Hoot, Not Speak

Jareth raced through the winds invisibly, the tendrils of his blonde hair whipping at his face, leaving only small shadows. The expression on his face was a mask of fear, his eyes narrowed into almost cat-like eyes and his lips were sealed closed in a horizontal direction. His gaze wavered between the open night sky and the unconscious girl in his arms. Around her torso she wore his cape, which held a charm of keeping her blood flowing inside her body instead of leaving it. As he sped underneath the gaze of a full moon his mind continued to flash the horrible scene that he had witnessed.

Flashback:

Jareth sat in his bone-structured and violet clothed throne, his legs swung onto the armrest of one side while his back rested on the other. He wore his ebony poet's shirt, the laces on the front wide open, which exposed the majority of his upper chest in a "v" shape. On his legs, he sported his trademark tight leather pants in an almost invisible dark brown, along with his black leather riding boots. To some humans, they would probably call him morbid, but to his goblins, they would just say it's his casualties.

He had tried to make an attempt to block out the loud noises of the goblins that surrounded him, but it seemed that nothing had been going his way. The room held a feeling unease, but his heart felt as if it was weighed down even more. A tingling sensation flew through his body, as if it was trying to tell him to get up and run, but the question he kept asking himself… was where? What business did he have somewhere else? He didn't know, and yet his heart was yearning for something that had been on his mind all day. As his thoughts kept flowing through his mind, a sharp pain jolted through him, as if he was being struck by lightning. Then, a faint whisper blew softly in the breeze.

" _SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME! SOMEBODY TAKE ME AWAY FROM THIS PLACE!"_ The voice whispered. His heart began to sink into his stomach as he listened to the pleading, yet melodic voice. As the words flew through his mind, he quickly shot up and began to pace quickly to the window. And that's when another shock flew through him, and by that point, his heart was completely absorbed and stuck in his stomach. Then her voice rang out once more.

" _SOMEBODY HELP ME PLEASE!"_ Sarah begged. He could hear the pain in her voice and he swore that her voice would haunt him until the day of his death. Within moments after her scream, he was gone like the wind.

He had flown as fast as his wings would allow him to, but it had felt as if despite the fact that they were defying gravity, his wings were defying him. Didn't they want to save their love? Didn't they want to help the poor, tormented young soul whose life was a living hell? Why would his own wings defy him? Why would they defy the girl who made his wings soar? Jareth shook his head and his attention focused back to the empty sky ahead of him. Soon enough, he was passing through into the other world.

In a flash, Jareth was brought back to reality as he neared closer towards her bedroom window, where shouts and muffled screams were audible through the thin glass that was the window for the attic. Jareth prepared himself to go at full speed through the window when the small, crumpled figure on the floor caught his attention, a pool of blood forming itself around her head, which quickly darted side to side as the shadowy figure moved forward and continued to straddle her, all the while tearing her clothes off like a lust filled animal as she made an attempt to push him away. And in a flash of fury, Jareth shot through the window, a circular array of glass shards flying through the air and to the floor in his wake. The man on top of the young girl quickly jumped up and backed away until his spine met the cold wall, his eyes still heavily carrying lust, and a small twinge of fear. Jareth grinned inwardly.

Jareth dove forward and relentlessly began to penetrate through Nicolas's skin with his sharp talons, making him scream out loudly. Devin and Jacob confronted Jareth from behind and began to pull on his upper torso and wings in an attempt to pull his talons out of Nicolas, who raised his shaking hands up to his wounds as the other men continued to pummel the barn owl mercilessly.

 _'_ _So this is how it's going to be? Such a pity…'_ Jareth thought, the feeling of his feathers being plucked out. If they wanted to act like this, then it would be fire against an even stronger fire. He closed his eyes momentarily and a blinding flash followed soon after. Jacob, Devin and Nicolas were now slumped in the far corner of the attic, slumped against the wall. Jareth stood now, having morphed into his regalia form, his purple and black armor shining slightly. Now, it was just him and Phil. In the background, Jareth could hear Sarah's shallow breaths, which went at such a slow pace as her eyelids kept fluttering, desperate to keep themselves open. A deep grunt caught Jareth's attention.

"Who the fuck do you think you are? Barging into someone else's house?" Phil growled at him, his eyes darkening within each second, Jareth shook his head at him.

"Who the hell do you think _you_ are, abusing a girl so young? You should know better than that _, filthy scum._ " Jareth shot back, circling around the room, every moment counted for her. Hell, as far as he could tell, he was losing her; there was no time to waste on the piece of filth that stood in front of him, preparing himself into a battle stance. If this was how he wanted to play, so be it.

"Be prepared to die, you fucking psycho!" And with that, Phil came racing towards Jareth, whose lips curled up into a Cheshire grin. And with the flick of a wrist, he had disappeared… almost like magic. Phil was now shaking with what seemed to be anxiousness and excitement.

Now he could finally fight someone who would fight back. And he wasn't going to hold back. Moving quickly, Phil downed the rest of the contents inside the nearest beer bottle and gripped it tightly in his right hand, his intent obvious on using the beer bottle as his weapon.

After what seemed to feel like hours passing, despite it only being seconds, a deep chuckle echoed throughout the room.

"Do you really think that you will be able to kill me with…. that? How pathetic." Jareth stated in a bored tone." Let's heat things up in here". The sound of shrieking metal rang like a bell throughout the attic, which was soon followed by a cringing Uncle Phil. Shadows danced across the walls and floors as Phil struggled to remain conscious of the movements surrounding him, but it seemed far too difficult for him to keep his eyes open as the sound continued to penetrate through his ears. But soon, he gave in to the banshee-like screaming and he tumbled through the exit on the floor, landing in the hallway of the second floor, where he quickly got up and scattered towards the bathroom.

Locking the door behind him, Phil grabbed whatever he could find and put it in front of the door, hoping it would keep the mysterious man out. Sighing in relief, he leaned his back against the door. After several minutes of listening carefully for any sudden sounds or movement from the upstairs, he moved a few steps away from the door. Thinking that the intruder had left the house, Phil went to go move the items he had placed in front of the door away when a glint of light was caught in the mirror.

Phil raised a brow and he slowly moved towards the mirror, which seemed to grow a red and orange tiny in color, which seemed to flicker in every direction possible. He quickly glanced around the small room and saw nothing that the reflection was displaying. However, he then turned to look back into the mirror, and instead of the small colors that were once there, was raging with multicolored shades of red, black and blue.

"What the hell..."

"Oh yes, that is indeed where you are going". The all-too familiar voice sounded behind him. Phil jumped in shock and spun around to face the seemingly-clam faced stranger, who had seemed to get into the room without even unlocking the door.

"Who the hell are you?!" Phil screamed at him. With a smile, Jareth responded.

"I'm the Goblin King". And with that, Jareth shoved Phil into the mirror, which rippled like water and held the flaming background. The sounds of Phil's screams tore through the small room and filled Jareth's ears like music.

Jareth stood there for a few moments, but was quickly jolted back into reality by an audible thump from upstairs. Remembering that Sarah was still upstairs with three other unconscious men still put him at great unease, and so he quickly transported himself back into the attic.

Sarah lay on the floor, her arm outstretched to the now fallen hand mirror on the floor, whose shards were scattered the legs of the chaise. She heaved a great sigh and her face contorted in one of great pain, her eyesight blurry and her finger groping for the nearest object to hold on for support. But her arm seemed to feel almost impossible to lift up. Her bones seemed to crush her thin layer of skin between the impact of the floor and her bones. Her head seemed to be swimming as though she had been on a roller coaster ride one too many times, and her eyes darted as far as she could see.

As soon as Jareth appeared in the attic, he rushed over to Sarah's side, where he carefully lifted her from the cold hardwood floor and circled his arms around her, cushioning her head. She groaned softly in response as her eyes tried to find the ones of the person who was holding her. The arms around her felt warm and had instilled a feeling into her that she thought that she would never get the chance to feel again.

Safe.

After minutes of silence surrounding the two, Sarah's vision finally cleared up enough to meet a pair of mismatched eyes. The eyes seemed to lure her into a daze, and soon, she began to look almost as if her eyes were soulless.

"Sarah…" He spoke gently, softly. Sarah attempted to grasp the name he had said to her, but in a flash, her once placid face became one of pain and in a brief intake of air, she went limp in his arms.

"Sarah, Sarah precious you must wake up…." He pleaded to her, but to no avail, she did not rouse. A wet sensation soon warmed his chest and he pulled away slightly to see what it was, and what he saw alarmed him.

Sarah's head had left a large smear of blood down the front of his regalia jacket and had bled into his poets shirt underneath, the red sticky liquid beginning to lose its shine as it continued to bleed through the neatly-weaved fabric.

Releasing his hold on her for several moments, he detached his cape from the clasps that hung it from his shoulders and he neatly tucked her in the thick cloth, her form becoming one of a cocoon. Making sure she was safely tucked into his cape, he lifted her up into his arms once more and raced out the attic window, and they both became a dust within the wind.

End of flashback:

Several minutes to Jareth seemed to exaggerate as several hours through the kaleidoscope of colors that was the passageway to another world entirely. When he had first considered taking Sarah to the Castle beyond the Goblin City, he had in mind that she would've already found out that he was actually a King of Goblins.

But sadly, in his reality, he knew it would never happen that way, even if he had actually tried. But now his hopes and dreams were nothing more than illusions cast away into the mist. However, if there was any moment of doubt he thought that he could change, there was always time reversing, which only came at a price.

But didn't all magic? Why wasn't magic a limitless quirk with no boundaries like the ancient scrolls once told? But sometimes, he wished that he never had magic to begin with, to just be a normal being like Sarah was. What was the definition of _normal?_

Jareth was torn from his thoughts as the Castle drew closer in his line of vision, and he began to drift down until the dusty railing of the west balcony met with his leather boots. Some goblins rushed over to their king, some stayed put, and some just stared as if it wasn't of daily occurrence to them. He paced down the narrow hallway swiftly, making quick turns at moment's notice until he came across the throne room.

In sight, goblins bowed and greeted their king with respect; however Jareth simply ignored them and beckoned for one of the guards standing by the throne to come forward. The goblin walked forward hurriedly, his iron chains clinking against his other metal guard, which was shown to be too large on him. With a quick bow, he raised up to meet Jareths eyes.

"How may I be of service, your Majesty?" He chirped out, tapping his foot lightly in an unknown rhythm.

"Send word to Renatai and have her meet me in the Royal Chambers as quick as possible".

"Yes sire, it will be done", and with a wave of Jareth's hand, the guard was gone. Sending a glare around the room, Jareth made his way over to a staircase through a doorway next to the throne and began his ascent, which seemed to drag on longer than it would usually take him. Once more relying on his magic, he flicked his fingers from beneath Sarah's back and a double door entrance made itself know in front of them. Jareth wasted no time in approaching the doors, where they opened before him, allowing both entrance where the wall that the doors was stood was now a stone wall behind them.

The room that Jareth now stood in was an extremely large room, in which the right side of the wall had a small stone fireplace, which was already ablaze with light. Around the fireplace were two deep brown couches with throws made of the finest velvet. Against the wall straight ahead in the room laid a ceiling tall canopy bed, which reached up to twenty feet high, thick black fabric hanging down from the bed posts, then tied loosely at the end of the bed. White cotton sheets contrasted against the dark purple comforter lying atop of it.

Walking over to the bed, Jareth carefully placed the still unconscious Sarah on the bed, the small amount of weight newly added letting the blankets sink in around her ever so slightly. Taking the opportunity to do something useful, Jareth observed her injuries closer than before, viewing the extent of her wounds.

Before he could begin to attempt to heal one of the cuts that rested on her cheek, a hand on his arm stopped him and a soft voice spoke up." Let me handle this, your Majesty".

Darting her eyes over Sarah quickly, Renatai looked up at a very pale faced Goblin King.

"These wounds….." She trailed off before catching herself again."How did this happen?"

Jareth gulped before answering in a hoarse voice, "A wretched fool who dared to call himself her Uncle". Renatai moved over to Sarah's side and kneeled down beside the bed, closing her eyes and swiftly hovering her arm above the prone figure. Behind her eyelids, a silver glow could be seen where the corneas of her eyes would be.

Without opening her eyes, Renatai began to mumble in a low voice, but still audible. Pointing to Sarah's bottom right waist, she used her other hand to indicate the damage." Fractured rib…", to her bony stomach, " knife slashes…", to her chest, "many, many bruises", to her back, " more knife slashes", then finally, her head. A confused look danced across her face before she could say what else she had. Silence filled the room for several minutes before Jareth finally broke, looking on the verge of fainting at any given moment.

"Apparently, she has a fractured skull, from what I can see. However, it's not new". Jareth stood up straight and walked over to the bedside opposite from Renatai, hopes held high that _he_ could be the one to fix her.

"What do you mean by 'it's not new'?"

"Your Majesty, this seems to have gone untreated for the last ten years".

At that moment, Jareth felt the strong urge to kill. It didn't matter who or what is was, as long as it felt the pain of dying in his hands. No one would dare touch _his Sarah_ again. Never. Clenching his fist, one around his infinity-symbol medallion and the other at his side, he walked towards the door and began to leave from the closest window.

"What would you like me to do your Majesty!?" Renatai raised her voice in assurance that he would hear her. Looking back into the room once more, Jareth's tone became deep, almost as if he was growling.

"Whatever you can". With those words, he spun around and shot out of the stone arched window, his form shrinking into the form of his spirit animal. The infamous Barn Owl. Kneeling in the room alone with the unfamiliar human, Renatai began what would most probably be the most exhausting night of her entire life.

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Jareth had no idea how long he had been flying around his kingdom. Seconds, minutes, hours, even days, anything to get the shocking revelations out of his head. How could someone do this to such an innocent creature, especially one so young? His opinion was now final, humans were the monsters, and Sarah was the only living angel that had once lived in the rotting hell that was the aboveground.

He wanted to take all of the pain away, let it be by goblin ale or even flying with no memory. Anything to forget that his most treasured one could've been spared such a terrible life if he had only saved her in time. If it was even possible, he would've taken every blow for her. Every scratch, scab and scar.

But then there was always the other side that wondered, 'what if I actually did get there too late?' Shaking his head of all the nonsense that began to wreak havoc in his mind, he glided left and increased his speed in the direction of the castle.

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Renatai spent a total of two hours bandaging and bathing Sarah while another six was used for healing her wounds to the point that they had to heal on their own for the rest. The process was absolutely exhausting; there were simply no other words to describe the feelings.

Resting her head on one of the brown couches by the fireplace in Sarah's room, she began to get comfortable in the warmth of the velvet throws that she had rested atop of her. The fire only several feet away radiated a warmth that quickly helped evaporate the beats of sweat that had been adorning her forehead. A soft sigh of content escaped her lips before a cool breeze swept through the room, despite that no windows were open in the room. However, it did not take a genius to know who had just walked in.

"I am forever in your debt, Renatai", he thanked, one of the very rare times that he actually said a 'thank you'. Small smile touched her lips, knowing that she had accomplished something actually worth her time.

"It was no bother, my Lord. I hope you do not mind if I rest my head for a while in here, it appears that my room seems to have a very stuffy atmosphere compared to this one. Being a light sleeper, I can also keep watch over her throughout the night". She asked, her eyes yet to open if she intended to.

"I will have that taken care of as I progress through night and day. But do not worry about the Maiden; she will be well guarded by myself. For now, you may simply drift off to wherever you mind takes you". Jareth assured. It was a no brainer that she looked on the verge of sleep as the purple bags under her eyes became more visible as she drifted into a deep sleep.

He would have to remind himself that she deserved a better room than what she had before. Especially one with a fireplace, which she seemed to be very fond of.

Seeing her finally doze off, Jareth found himself uncomfortable just sitting on the bed next to Sarah, but not close enough to affect the blankets around her. Knowing that if she woke up in a strange bed with some man would most likely scare her, he let himself return to his owl form and perched up on the pillow above her, his eyes swiftly closing shut and nestling his head between his shoulder blades.

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 _"_ _Sarah…..Sarah…"_

 _Sarah's eyelids seemed to twitch as a haunting voice whispered her name. It made her want to curl up into a ball even tighter, thinking that maybe it could keep her warm for just a little bit longer before her body would freeze._

 _"_ _Sarah mine…..look at me NOW!" The voice thundered. Almost as if it was a chain reaction followed with an earthquake, Sarah's eyes shot open and she unfurled herself from the seeming damp floor that she had been laying on. Her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were stained with the familiar streak of tears. They had been that way ever since she had been ripped away from her family._

 _At only six years old, Sarah had learned the true horrors of man, and how fragile humans really were. Too bad she was stuck there._

 _Sarah back away towards the brick wall behind her as the four shadows came closer, and in a moment's notice, spotted the wooden staircase leading upstairs. Grabbing Lancelot from his sitting position next to her on the floor, they made a break for the staircase, the silhouettes following in pursuit. A sun-bright light shone from underneath the closed door. Reaching for the knob, she grasped the cold metal in her hand and turned it quickly, shutting the door behind her. Sarah exhaled loudly, Lancelot still tucked under her arm safely._

 _Just when she thought that she was safe from them, a loud bang and vibration behind the door made her jump, as did the pushing the door open make her dart upstairs. Looking around, she saw that all the doors were closed, and most likely locked. Then, she saw her beacon of hope._

 _The ladder to the attic._

 _Due to her small size at the time, it took more steps to reach the ladder, and her feet made a much louder sound as she hurried towards the ladder. Behind her, she could hear the sounds of footsteps following behind her in tow._

 _Finally getting into the attic, Sarah coughed at the amount of dust that had formed in there within the years, but she wasted no time in getting to the window, in which the sun shone bright through the clear pane of glass. Approaching it quickly, Sarah placed Lancelot on the small platform in front of the window next to her as she began to use both hands to pry the window open._

 _A head popped out of the opening to the downstairs as Sarah had finally pried the window open with her petite hands. As the shadows soon began to approach her, Sarah screamed out the window in hopes that the one passerby walking down the sidewalk across the street would notice her._

 _"_ _PLEASE MISTER, HELP ME!" Sarah wailed, waving her arms frantically, thinking that it was another way to get the man's attention. The man suddenly stopped and looked around the area until he spotted Sarah waving both hands out at him. He turned to face the window across the street and shouted over at her._

 _"_ _Is everything okay over there, little one?!"_

 _Looking back, Sarah replied even louder, "NO! PLEASE HELP ME!" she screamed before being pulled back by the shadows. The man looked both ways before making a move to cross the street before a man looked out the window where the girl had just been and shouted._

 _"_ _Don't mind my niece! She is just having a tantrum!" Uncle Phil assured the man. The man raised a brow but turned and walked on slowly, sending a glance every so often back at the house until he was out of sight. Uncle Phil turned away to meet Sarah who was knelt down on the floor, her stuffed bear in front of her and Nicolas holding both of her arms behind her back tightly. Sarah winced in pain._

 _"_ _You, my dear, will soon begin to learn how to show some respect towards your elders!..." He brought his hand backwards and brought it forward to collide with her cheek. Sarah cried out and tears began to well up in her eyes, letting them escape without hesitation._

 _"_ _And when we tell you to do something, you do it without question!" Once again, his hand came across her face. Sarah now bowed down in pain, letting her hair shroud around he now invisible facial features. However, it was not hard to know that she was beginning to cry, although more silent that time. Hiccups wracked her body as she continued to sob. Leaning forward ever so slightly, she nudged her forward and reclined back so Lancelot would be in front of her._

 _Now instead of protecting herself, she was protecting Lancelot. The one thing that she truly did love._

 _Suddenly, Nicolas shoved her forward, her hands catching herself before she could make impact with the floor. Then both Nicolas and Uncle Phil, along with the two other shadows left the attic, leaving her alone. Little did she know that that would be not only the first time that she would go without food for a week, but that it would be what almost what seemed like forever until it would all go away._

 _Sarah, at only six years old, felt the true force of violence from her own family._

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Sarah awoke with a startle and a pounding head, feeling as if it had been hit repeated by a hammer. Raising a hand to her scalp, she felt the softness of her hair as she went to massage her head. Bringing her hand back so she could look at it, she saw that there was no dandruff.

That was when she ten realized that she was surrounded by something soft, almost like a cloud if she had ever touched one. Sitting up slowly, Sarah winced at a sudden soreness in her side, about where the bottom of her rib cage would be. But the soreness wasn't just at her ribs or head.

It was everywhere.

A burning, torturous feeling. As if she had been stabbed by a thousand knives and shot by a million guns. It was a wildfire that wouldn't stop spreading. Sarah moaned loudly as she leaned over to open the black curtains that surround every side of the bed. A bright sunlight seemed to come from nowhere, and Sarah raised a hand to cover her eyes as they began to adjust to the sudden burst of sunlight. She crawled to the end of the bed and swung her legs over the side edge, letting her bony legs get fresh air, as odd as it sounded, but it made the soreness less painful.

Stretching so that she bent slightly backwards on the tip toes of her feet more pain seemed to fill her body to the point that it was overwhelming and caused her to collapse. Panting softly, Sarah looked around at her surroundings. The room was quite large with unsmoothed grey stone as the wall and a dark hardwood as the flooring.

"Where the hell am I?" Sarah wondered aloud as she began to stand up, letting her head look around in all directions before a flicker of orange caught her attention. A fireplace rested on the left wall from her side, along with two couches with throws tossed over them. Slowly, she approached the small area, where she was met with the sleeping face of a girl.

Hesitantly, Sarah placed one of her hands on the girls shoulder and she jolted awake, at first fear filled her eyes, but was quickly dismissed with a glace sent up at a very confused Sarah. Composing herself quickly, the girl threw one of the many throws on the couch off of her and she stood up off the couch.

"I apologize for that, I am usually a light sleeper, but I guess I was tired last night after bathing and healing you…" She wandered off for a moment before standing up straight.

Sarah shuffled her feet and looked down at her sudden appearance. She had been wearing a pink and white laced Victorian-styled nightgown, something that she never had remembering changing into or better yet owning.

"I'm sorry that I woke you, but where am I, and who are you?"

The girl murmured an "oops" before curtsying and introducing herself. "My name is Renatai, head healer here. And, putting in a nice way, welcome to the Castle beyond the Goblin City". Renatai smiled brightly, and Sarah couldn't help but smile in wonder. Was she finally safe?

"Wait, you said castle. In that case who…" Lasts nights memories came flooding back in one moment, the screaming, and the pain. Then there was Mr. Owl. In her last moments of consciousness, she could vaguely remember being encircled by warm arms, and Mr. Owl morphing into a human.

"Who saved you? Why that was your Majesty, King of the Goblins. He came in at such a late hour in a hurry with you in his arms. The man looked as if he was going to faint after all the blood he saw last night. Although I should tell you now that you had a skull fracture as I healed you. It will hurt for a while, but it should feeling better within a week". She stated simply.

' _King of Goblins? This is getting more confusing every second...'_ Sarah thought to herself. Looking around again, Sarah felt the sudden urge to explore. If this was a castle, then there must be life all around, free for her to explore.

"Do you suppose that I could have a look around the castle? I have never been exposed to something different in many years, and I just feel the need to know that this is all real", Sarah said truthfully, an eager tone matching with her voice.

Renatai nodded quickly, where she then ushered Sarah into a room on the far right side, most likely a bathroom from Sarah's thoughts. But as Sarah was slowly guided in, it wasn't a bathroom, it was a walk-in closet.

Renatai pointed her right hand index finger towards another door in the end of the small room, "that's the bathroom if you need to use it. Will you need any help dressing my lady?"

Sarah was taken aback, since when would someone treat as if she was a princess? Looking around, Sarah noticed that almost to all in the closet were dresses and nightwear. She nodded quickly."Would you, I'm afraid these clothes are not what I wear from my world, and I don't even think that I could put in on right".

Looking through all of the dresses, Sarah picked out a dark blue long-sleeve Camelot dress with a silver belt going down the center of the dress, which surprisingly easy to get into despite what she had said only minutes ago.

"Thank you….. Renatai, I appreciate what you have done to help me. As for his Majesty, whoever he may be".

Renatai jumped as soon as the word "majesty" had left Sarah's lips.

"Oh that is right, I must take you to him, please, follow me". Obediently, Sarah followed in pursuit behind her, all the while combing her untangled hair with her fingers and slipping in a rubber band that was on her wrist.

The walks down the endless hallways were astonishing to her. The architecture, the tapestries. Everything. Staircases went down in spirals and all different directions. The walk was extremely long, but well worth it.

Minutes later, Sarah was led into a large, round room, filled with small creatures off all different colors, shapes and sizes. She shriveled under the gaze of everyone in the room, keeping her head down. A tap on her shoulder made her look up to her right, where Renatai was gesturing her hand out towards the end of the round room.

Slowly, Sarah spotted a large chair made from almost grey dusty bones and a purple cushion with a black blanket thrown over it. And in the center of it sat none other than Mr. Owl.

Sarah's eyes widened at the sight of the creature that had been there for as long as she could remember. Walking towards the throne, Sarah kneeled down in front of the throne so she would be met at eye level with the white barn owl. Sarah brushed her fingers down the back of the neck of the owl and it hooted in content.

"I see that you are familiar with our King, my Lady". Sarah turned around at her words and stood up.

"What do you mean that 'I am familiar with him'?"

"Mr. Owl, as you call him, is our King". Sarah tilted her head at her words.

"That has to be impossible, owls can only hoot, not speak. How can he lead an entire kingdom?"

"I can assure you, Precious, that I am well-capable of speaking". Sarah quickly turned at the voice behind her. All of a sudden, she came face-to-face with the unfamiliar voice.

The so apparent "king" donned a regalia of sorts, its colors hard to describe, his hands also clad with a pair of black leather gloves. However, he wore the tightest black pants and a pair of dark brown boots which came up to his knees. He had platinum blonde hair with mismatched eyes the color of blue and green. He wore purple and white eye shadow that enhanced the colors around his eyes. Most finally, he wore a golden medallion with a silver emblem in the center of it.

"It is a pleasure to formally meet you, Sarah Williams. I am the King of the Goblin City and creator of the Labyrinth. I am Jareth.

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Ummmmmm. I can explain. Well, actually I don't think I can. I came back to school a couple months ago, which came with a horrible case of writers block to the point that I considered changing this story to five chapters and 25K. But I'm not about to give up just yet. I cannot guarantee when the next update will be, but please bear with me and review to keep me going!

Until next chapter, follow my story, favorite it. For me, I just am really eager to get my first review within the last 2 months! Love you all!

-Emma51020


	4. When Books Come Flying

Hi guys! I just have to say I felt really happy when I got two reviews within the first two hours of posting chapter three. At first, I got so stumped to the point where I actually thought about giving up, but I still want to continue. My dream for fanfiction is to get hundreds of reviews, like you would see for a one-shot in an Inuyasha fanfiction. So please keep the reviews coming! Let's get on with it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth in any way, shape or form. But if I did, Jareth would be bringing David Bowie back for one more film!

Chapter Four: When Books Come Flying

Sarah stuttered, unsure of how to react with anything other than astonishment. For so long, she had only believed that Mr. Owl was a creature sent from heaven to watch over her. A friend, like Lancelot. Someone that she could confide in. She had always thought his hooting to be a form of communication with her, despite that she could not understand it. And yet, the tone in his sounds could convey a thousand emotions in one second.

With the most respect she could, Sarah bowed down respectively in front of him. King or not, he had still saved her life countless of times. While beginning to bow, her bottom right rib began to ache, and in response, Sarah winced.

A hand laid itself upon her shoulder and she looked up at the soft eyes before her. Tsking, he shook his head slightly in a disapproving manner. Sarah stood up straight once more, this time around much more composed and polite.

"Doing that will only pain your wounds more. For Renatai's hard work would've all gone to waste if you go and reinjure yourself now". His soft voice rumbled. It was a very deep sound, and yet very alluring. A small smile touched Sarah's lips, but completely diminished within milliseconds. After saying those words, Jareth felt a pull towards his sleeve, where a crystal magically made its way into his palm.

Grabbing Sarah's hand in his, he brought her knuckles to his lips and gently kissed them. A blush crept up on Sarah's lips as his eyes had yet to leave hers. Jareth then placed her hand back at her side and seemed to look into the crystal as small pictures began to project through it.

"Pardon me, precious. I'm afraid I have something to attend to before we can continue our conversation. Looking Sarah up and down, he could faintly make out the outline of her ribs through her dress. Grimacing inwardly, Jareth motioned for Kerberos's attention.

"Kerberos, if you may, please escort Lady Sarah to the dining hall. I will be there shortly. Until then, precious". With a slight bow, Jareth was gone in a small explosion of glitter. Sarah turned around with an utter look of disconcert on her face. Could she be dreaming in a coma? Was this all for real?

If at any moment everything disappeared and had all been a dream, Sarah seemed terrified for what would happen when she woke up. It would be disheartening to her. For so long all she could every think about was an escape out of the house, out of the world. Everything around her almost seemed as if it was a dream. An Owl, a King who was very much capable of speaking. At the same time though, she could but think why he had lied to her the entire time.

A goblin came up in Sarah's line of view and she snapped out of her thoughts. Bending, he bowed before her politely, one hand over his heart and the other holding his spear next to his side. While Sarah had appreciated the gesture, she felt at great unease as the filthy spear tip gleamed back at her, almost as if it was screamed "you better run!" It was then that she noticed that there were many other guards standing around the room with all sorts of weapons.

At that moment, Sarah felt as though she wanted to be sick. Choking down her thoughts, she stuttered out words quickly." Could we Pl…please quickly go?" Noticing her distressed look, Kerberos offered his hand out to her to escort her out of the room. Sarah simply eyed his hand before putting them both in the opposite draping sleeves.

Kerberos took his hand back and began to lead the way out of the throne room, Sarah following quickly behind him, her head tilted down in timidity. Sarah felt out of place and unwanted as she received strange looks from other creatures. Had they never seen a person like her before? Wasn't Renatai just like her?

If Sarah could have a wish, it would to have temerity, or be temerity itself. Why was it so hard to be brave and confident?

Kerberos, on the other hand, could not figure out why Sarah was so shy and timid. It was clear as a crystal that she had never been to the Underground before. The sky and environment was much too different compared to the Aboveground, which soared with new life, which was then killed off by the frigid and absurd winters. He could vaguely remember his conversation with his king the day before, and how highly he spoke of Sarah.

And how he had claimed that, "her wings were being clipped, and doesn't fly away". Shaking his head, he knew that the honorable thing to do was to keep his mouth shut and avoid a bad confrontation with both Lady Sarah and his Majesty. Some secrets remain secrets.

"So Jareth tells me that you're from the Aboveground. What is it like up there?" He attempted to make the situation lighter and comfortable.

Sarah froze momentarily. What was she supposed to say? That she had been all around the world and had experienced all wonders ever built. That she had been living with a psychopath that was actually her family? Struggling to catch her breath, she composed herself and sucked in a deep breath.

"Is that what everyone calls your King? Just by his name?" A smile stretched across Kerberos wrinkled face, reminiscing faint memories.

"Jareth hates it when any subject in general calls him by his birth name. That privilege is usually used only by his parents, however I like to take advantage of what I can say when he is nowhere to be found. Although judging by how high he speaks of you, I wouldn't doubt that he would let you call him Jareth as well.

For a split moment, Sarah's stony façade diminished and was replaced with a small movement of her lips upwards. But it was as gone as soon as it came. 'I guess it's just going to take some more work'. Sarah thought to herself.

Ever since Sarah had entered that dreadful house, she felt that she would never be able be able to trust any man ever again. No, scratch that, she would never be able to trust men at all. She began to teach herself that girls were a girl's best friend, and so was Mr. Owl. But now his secret was out.

He wasn't just an owl…. He was a _man_. Something that was taller than her, far stronger than her. Even had better looks compared to a dinosaur like her. Such a bumpy back from her spine. Sarah wanted to cringe at herself ever time she thought about her weight. Was she ugly because she was too thin? What would he think of her now?

 _Why did she care?_

Despite all she hated about her Uncle, there was one thing that she was thankful for.

She didn't have to go to school, where people would give her strange looks and judge her by a single glace at one of her visible bruises on her face. She didn't have to go to a place knowing that she would have to keep her hood down. She didn't have to change in a locker full of girls who would only care about their looks or how their makeup had gotten smeared, better yet get made fun of because she didn't have the perfect body. She didn't have to get picked on by a teacher when she didn't know the answer to something, where everyone would laugh at her for being stupid.

She had missed out on half of high school, middle school, and five years of elementary school. Was it too late to learn anything at the same time? She knew her alphabet, her numbers. She could do math because she had to pay the bills. She could cook, because that is what she had to learn how to do all on her own. Knowing only this would probably be how a woman felt in the 18th century, when that was what all they were good for doing.

"Miss Sarah, we have arrived. Is there anything I can assist you with in the meantime?" Sarah dragged herself out of her thoughts at the sudden disturbance in concentration. Sarah shook her head and began to slowly walk into the Dining hall.

The room was huge, for starters. The floor was an exquisite white marble that seemed to gleam with brightness from the sun. The wall was a royal blue with multicolor tapestries hanging within five feet of each other on the wall. The artwork was amazing.

One tapestry displayed a child, only maybe around ten months old, wearing a silver circlet around his head made of maple leaves, and sitting on a silver cushion with an innocent look on his face, his blue eyes bright and wide. Around him sat creatures of all sorts, pointing at the innocent child with a smile, almost as if they were laughing at him.

Another tapestry depicted a girl, around eighteen or twenty, with cascading long hair that went down just above her chest. She wore a light beige dress that went mid thighs, which were curled up to her chest as she held a white masquerade mask in her left hand, while her right hugged her legs to her stomach. Around her head sat a tiara of flowers and emerald gems, which was decorated amongst the flowers. She had a sorrowful expression on her face, as if she seemed to regret or forgotten something. Maybe even a hint of pity for som-

"I see you have taken an interest in the tapestries. Quite magnificent, are they not?" Jareth's voice rumbled, causing Sarah to jump. She let her shoulders tense slightly, letting her gaze wander between the Goblin King and the tapestries before responding.

"I believe that emotions are better understood through art and its delicate strokes", Sarah almost seemed to whisper. Jareth, however, could easily hear her as if it was said right into his ear.

"Who are they? The child and the girl?" Sarah inquired. Jareth shrugged his shoulders before walking over to where Sarah stood, continuing to admire the tapestries.

"That, to this day still remains unknown. These tapestries were stitched by our ancestors long before the Underground was ever made into a society such as this". He stretched his arms out slightly, gesturing to the scenery all around them.

"It's beautiful".

"As are you, Precious. Come now, you must be famished after all the time that have ate last". Sarah placed her bony fingers over her stomach as those words left his mouth, almost as if she was too timid to say anything.

She didn't feel famished at all though. She felt like she was starving to death, which seemed to be the better way of putting it. Nervously, Sarah slowly made her way over to the end of the table, which sat before an array of glass windows, which glowed a pinkish hue with radiance. Nearing the end, Jareth politely pulled the chair out for her, which seemed to be made out of a sturdy ivory base legs and backbone while a white cushion rested on the back and seat of the chair.

Sarah almost forgot to say 'thank you' as she sat down in the chair, pushing herself in. Jareth took a seat at the end of the table, which stretched maybe about ten feet away from her. He gave her a curious look before folding his fingers together in anticipation.

"What would you like to eat, Sarah dear?" He spoke in a gentle tone, a slight shiver running down her spine at 'dear'. Sarah felt like curling herself up into a ball. What was there to eat?

Sarah didn't respond after a few minutes passed in silence. He just couldn't read her mind, as if she was blocking him out of her mind unintentionally. But it wasn't hard to understand, to talk to someone who you didn't know, but had been there for you as long as you could remember.

Well, maybe it was a little complicated.

"Sarah, are you feeling alright?" She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, letting her chin rest on the junction between both knees. With a deep sigh, Jareth stood up and slowly approached Sarah, as to not frighten her away as others had before. Kneeling down her front of her, he gazed into her eyes.

"Precious, I promise you that in this castle, no one will dare lay a hand on you again. I swear it. I know you have many questions, but wish to not speak them aloud, but you can confide in me. If it makes you feel more comfortable, you may ask me as many to your heart's content". His gaze seemed almost pleading to her. Mustering up as much willpower as she could, she began to speak up.

"Are you really Mr. Owl?"

Jareth chuckled lightly. "The one and only".

"Where am I?"

"You are in the Underground, a place which is almost like a planet of itself, but not seen by human astronomers. You see, the Underground is made up of millions of different territories, all ruled by a King, Queen, or even both. However, if you are as descriptive as to where we are, you are in the center of my Labyrinth, the Castle beyond the Goblin City". A small smile tugged desperately at his lips as he watched Sarah's eyes take in all of the new information.

"How old are you?" Jareth froze. This was going to be harder to explain than he thought. Sarah gave him a deadpan look, as if to emphasize that his facial features didn't show off his age already.

"I am thirteen hundred years old". Sarah's jaw dropped to her knees.

'What the hell? I swear I have to be dreaming'.

Sarah cleared her throat as she snapped her jaw shut." If you are as old as you claim to be, then how is that even possible?" She stuck her chin upright, almost as if she was waiting for the perfect lie. All men lied, didn't they?

"While you mortal can live up to a hundred years old or higher, depending on your health, I am from a species called the Fae". Sarah went to abbreviate the words but Jareth interrupted her before she could say a word." Fae does not stand for Faerie. It is just simply Fae. We have long life spans to about… five million years old. Just as there are goblins, who can live up to four million, just ask Kerberos, the goblin who walked you here. He has been here since my parents both took the throne, left the throne and met their untimely death. That is, of course a story for another time if you so wish to hear it one day. Any more questions?"

"Why did you save me all those times? I could've just died with my family, knowing that I'd still be with them". Sarah looked down, her eyes filling with glistening, sorrowful and unshed tears. Jareth took an intake of breath.

"The first time was actually by accident, I had been… searching for something, in which I cannot remember what it was now. But, I hear a loud noise, which sent me off of my trail, where I saw you climb under your bed, and those men…" Jareth sneered with disgust," those men would've hurt a child who didn't deserve that. No child does. After that though, the look in your eyes when you stared back at me outside of you bedroom window, I knew I should keep an eye on you".

"Over time, I thought everything would be fine in your new home. But I soon found out that the monsters that lurked behind every door was even more dangerous than the ones that had killed your family. Over those years, I watched as you looked at yourself in the mirror, losing all your nutrition to the point that one more sickness could kill you, that one more hit would put you in a coma. But I couldn't do anything unless you said you needed help. So all I could do was watch as you suffered in silence".

Jareth grabbed her wrists softly to inspect them, looking at the faint line of a pink hue that had been fresh and open two days before, now only a scar.

"Sarah, I will tell you again that I will never hurt you, nor will anyone in this castle do so". Gently, he kissed her wrists, which sent a warmth through her body that made her feel at peace, for the first time in a long time.

"What is the Labyrinth?"

"In few instances, one of which I had to leave earlier for, is when someone wishes another person away. Let it be infant, child, teenager, adult or elderly. I then offer the person the choice to either have their dreams, or they can run my Labyrinth, in which they would have thirteen hours in which the soul of the Labyrinth before the person stays in my Kingdom forever. If it is a child, it will be taken to a home where they will be well loved by parents wishing to have a child. Although, here we only ever get wished away infants".

Sarah took a few minutes to take all of this in. A labyrinth to run just to get someone back? Five million years of life?! Another planet of sorts?

"How long will I be here?"

"As long as you wish. You can leave at any given moment if you ask me, but I do know that you need an education, and I'm willing to provide that to you, tuition free. All I ask is that you spend two years down in the Underground, until you are eighteen and willing to make a choice for yourself. But being King, I have many responsibilities, so I would have someone teach you". Jareth casually waved his hand around and tossed a crystal around back and forth as he awaited a response from Sarah.

Eighteen was only two years away, besides, if she was able to get a good education down here, then it was worth it, right? By now people would be saving thousands of dollars for their college tuition. One side of her felt the need to explore more of the Aboveground, but at the same time, the mystery that the Underground instilled inside of her intrigued her, captivated her. Maybe her future wouldn't turn out bad after all.

"I'll do it."

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For the rest of the afternoon, Jareth and Sarah talked about different topics involving foods, lifestyle, history and culture. Their last topic had ended with Jareth's crystals, which Sarah seemed very interested in knowing how he could easily make one appear. Of course, Jareth had to convince Sarah that magic was real too, although turning from Mr. Owl to the Goblin King seemed like magic enough, didn't it?

But with great ease, Sarah learned more about how magic had originated, and the signs of knowing when someone had a power. It all seemed so intriguing that three hours had flown by, almost like magic.

"Now that I have answered you questions-"

"Wait! Do you have a library?" Sarah asked, suddenly remembering her fondness of books.

"What kind of castle doesn't have a library? It is our reference to the past. Treaties signed with ancestors, marriage certificates…. Anything you could ever want to know". Jareth stated simply, while Sarah listened intently.

"If you'd like, we could take a visit over there. It seems that I also have been lacking in my studies, as is such the responsibilities of a King. However, only on the condition that you shall eat something. If you attempt to say that you aren't hungry, I would feel very displeased. After all, I think that you and I both know that as much as you try to conceal the growls of protests, it is still audible".

Sarah blushed lightly in embarrassment. Did being a fae mean that he had heightened senses like a dog or something? Seeing the position of the sun in the sky, or at least what she thought was the sun, she made an assumption that it was around mid-afternoon. She didn't know what she wanted after a moment of thinking. She had never really had anything different to know what she had a taste for.

Shriveling up into her familiar shell, she mumbled incoherently. Jareth huffed aloud in disappointment, all his hard work, down the drain. Conjuring up a crystal, he skillfully rolled the crystal across the long table where it stopped before Sarah and morphed into a bowl. Sarah eyes it skeptically, as if something was about to happen to it.

"What is it?" She peeked in curiosity. The bowl was filled with a type of soup, unknown to her. It swirled in amazing spiral pattern of silver amongst the golden soup. She gazed at it as if she was a child standing right in front of a pastry store, hey eyes gleaming with interest. Jareth suppressed a chuckle as he speculated her reaction.

"Golden Kasinean Fire, a delicacy known only here. I dare say it is one of my most common preferences". He gently swirled a small goblet around lazily, his eyes focused on Sarah, who began to reach for the spoon in the bowl. Hands shaking slightly, Sarah raised the spoon carefully to her mouth, where she let her taste buds judge the newfound creation.

At that moment, Sarah's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and the once heavy suspension was lifted, and replaced by peace and calmness. In those few seconds, Sarah forgot all about her past, and focused on the soup. The soup was hot, but not too hot, and tasted like a mixture of apples, cranberries…. And... Peaches?

"It's delicious. Thank you, your Majest-"Jareth quickly interrupted her before she could finish.

"Sarah, please do call me Jareth when we are along together, I do tire of being called 'your Majesty' all day, and after a while, it begins to make me feel older than I already am". Sarah nodded politely and looked down in front of him, where no bowl sat. She gave an expression of perplexity.

"Why aren't you eating anything?"

"I simply am not that hungry at the moment". Sarah managed out an "oh" before returning back to her soup.

 _'_ _Such an odd creature, and yet fascinating at the same time',_ Jareth couldn't help but think to himself. Throughout the last ten minutes, he felt as if he had witnessed a thousand different emotions from her. First she had given off a timid tone and went to outright polite and more confident in her words.

Sarah finished her soup several minutes later, feeling full, content and calm. _Full_ , maybe this was a feeling she could get used to from now on." Thank you again; I guess I was pretty hungry". With that, Jareth stood up from the table and walked over to Sarah, offering his hand out towards her,

"Since you fulfilled my end of the bargain, it is time I fulfill mine", he stated with a sheepish grin. Her reply being a small smile, she hesitantly put her hand in his after some moments of contemplating effort.

Walking through the halls, goblins quickly paused in their movements and eyed Sarah down in curiosity, unfamiliar with her. Unconsciously, she clutched Jareth's hand tightly with the want to curl up into an impenetrable shell. Could he make her an invisibility cloak so no one would see her, just like before?

Feeling Sarah tense up at the stares she was receiving by his subjects, he quickly barked out, "as you were!" startling the timid girl next to him.

"Don't be afraid of them Sarah, they simply just know everyone and everything. You are simply new here, so it will take them a while to get to know you before it is a casualty to keep going".

 _'_ _I'll have to socialize with them?! No way am I doing that!'_ Her conscious screamed. _'_ _Baby steps, Sarah, baby steps'._ Why was so hard to try and communicate? This is what she wanted, wasn't it? All she wanted to do was speak up and tell someone what happened, but her lips felt as though they had been sewn shut, no loose openings, just stitched tightly.

As they rounded a corner Jareth stilled suddenly, and quickly ushered her into a room behind a set of double doors. Sarah felt fear creep up into her. Had her Uncle come back with his minions? Was there a nuclear bomb under her feet that could set off a silent alarm? What were the millions of possibilities?

"Stay here, Precious. You may wander, but please keep silent". With that, he closed the doors behind him, leaving me alone in the… Library?

 _'_ _That was fast'_ Sarah mused to herself.

She felt as if she could float up to cloud nine at the wide array of books that lain before her eyes on the dusty maple shelves. Was this how Belle felt from Beauty and the Beast? Pure joy?

The room seemed to be the castle itself by its size; maybe it put shame to a public library itself. Glancing around, she walked amongst the many rows of books. In all her admiration, she spotted works that she knew, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, every Shakespeare work ever created. Continuing to browse, she trailed her index finger across the dusty books, leaving a faint mark of the books original cover color behind.

Her eyes trailed over countless poetry works by authors she had heard the name of before. Then, she found herself in the history section. Would a usual sixteen year old go browsing through history books? Was it weird for her to be doing that? Lost in thought, Sarah's foot collided with a shelf, causing a sharp pain to shoot through the nerves on the bottom of her foot and thud to the floor.

Biting her lip, she cried out realizing that was a bad choice too. Peeking open a blurry eye, she spotted a red rectangle on the floor. Reaching down for it, there was a loud boom a few shelves down. Moments later, a frustrated Jareth walked over to one of the leather armchairs that rested by the windows. Grabbing the book quickly, she reacted as if she was a magnet. She walked towards Jareth, book tucked securely under her arm at her side.

"What's wrong?" She questioned. Jareth ran a hand through his platinum mane and gave her a tired look. As if to ask, 'is it really worth it?'

"My Father is a royal pain".

"What did he do?"

"He is forcing me to have a bride chosen by next year's Winter Solstice. Unfortunately for him though, I marry for a reason, not to bear a child with someone I do not care about".

"You believe in the one person too?" Sarah asked, her face tilting in question.

"My Father, being the High King, thinks he has every power over me. Although I am not as old as he is, he still looks down upon as a teenager. Disrespectful and greedy".

"What is the age that you would be considered an adult?"

"Three thousand years old. That is seventeen-hundred years now". Not knowing what else Sarah could say to the disappointed Goblin King, she simply curtsied politely and went to leave the room. A hand suddenly grabbed her arm lightly and Sarah jerked away, backing up against the door, only to come face to face with Jareth.

"Are you heading back to your chambers? If so, please let me escort you. It is the least I could for you after listening to myself complain about my foolish Father". Sarah went to protest that she could go on her won, but soon realized that she had no idea how to get around the castle. For all she knew, it could have changing hallways and staircases.

"I suppose you could. Thank you again, your Maj….. Jareth". The name felt odd on her tongue, almost as if it was foreign to her.

"The honor is all mine, Precious".

"Jareth, why do you call me Precious instead of just Sarah?" Sarah felt confused by the nickname. Was it supposed to mean something to her? Was it just a pet name, in which that case, it would make her feel even more awkward than it probably already was.

"I call you that because you a special and precious being with a heart made out of gold. Although you don't like to socialize with others even though that's all you've ever wanted, you still make the attempt to try. Despite everything you've gone through, it has all ended up with you being here. You, precious Sarah, have an elastic heart. One that is capable of stretching many miles, and many lives". Sarah smiled at the compliment.

Silence surrounded the both of them for the next few minutes until she had been brought to the steps in front of her door.

"Thank you again… Jareth." He nodded and bowed politely and excused himself in a blast of glitter. Sarah spun on her heel and went into her room, closing the door behind her. Sarah went straight to the bed, slipping off her flats she had grabbed last-minute and put them at the foot of her bed. Collapsing in the mountain of silky blankets, Sarah pulled out the book that had been resting under her arm and began to skim over the beautiful embroidery.

Small black leaves outlined the cover of the book and the siding, which contrasted against the dark red of the book cover. In black letters the title read…

 _The Labyrinth_.

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Hi guys, I have done my best to update on a school night! Instead of doing 2500 words a day, I am practicing 500-1000 words a day! But anyways, I'm considering doing trivia for Labyrinth. It'll probably be bad, but I'll still give it a shot!

Trivia of the chapter (Although not part of it!): Two people played the role of Ambrosius, one in particular was used for a commonly know kids show. Who is the person, what show did they do, and who did they play?

Leave a review telling me your answer!

Make sure you review, favorite, follow, anything to keep me going on a role! Love you all!

-Emma51020


	5. Always a Stubborn One

Hey guys! I was glad to see the reviews I got, and thank you the criticism, I really need to step up my game when I write. I'm writing this intro probably a week before I reach the end of this chapter, and right now I have not gotten any responses for the trivia question! L

But anyways, I would love to hear your thoughts on this story, and I would love to be more popular in views with this story, so please review more! Now let's get to the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth in any way, shape or form. If I did, I wish Jareth and Sarah would be married in a sequel. Right Now!

Chapter Five: Once a Stubborn One, Always a Stubborn One

 _The Labyrinth._

That's flew through her head at the mention of the word, "labyrinth". Was it based off of the labyrinth Jareth had been discussing earlier? What was it about? Was it just fictional? Opening the book slowly, she ran her fingers along the jagged edges of the old parchment paper delicately, admiring its details and beautiful cursive handwriting. Wait, was that real ink used to write? Was it just printed with an old fashioned device or something?

Overwhelming questions flooded her mind. What would it take for her to finally understand everything? Skimming over the words lightly, she whispered out the words.

 _"_ _Once Upon a time there was a beautiful young girl who's stepmother always made her stay home with the baby._

 _And the baby was a spoiled child and he wanted everything for himself, and the young girl was practically a slave._

 _But what no one knew was that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl and he had given her certain powers._

 _So one night, when the baby had been particularly cruel to her she had asked the goblins for help._

 _"_ _Say your right words, and we'll take the baby to the Goblin City and you will be free"._

 _But the girl knew that the King of the Goblins would keep the baby in his castle forever and ever, and turn it into a goblin._

 _So she suffered in silence until one night when she was tired from a day of housework and hurt by the harsh words of her stepmother and she could no longer stand it._

 _I wish… I wish…"_

Sarah's eyes began to feel droopy as she to read, until it came to the point where she put down the book on a pillow, and rested her head on another. She fell asleep within moments.

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Jareth twisted a crystal lazily while sitting in his throne. Had he been doing that much more lately? He didn't have a clue. His eye fixated on an image projecting itself within the crystal, his expression, though, was one of boredness. Was that even a word? If it was, he just created a new one.

It had been four hours since he had last seen Sarah, four hours that he has been sitting in a painful throne with headache-creating monstrosities that were caused by goblins and chickens. _' Don't they have and political or social life outside of this throne room, better yet this damn castle?!'_ His mind screamed at him.

For those four hours, no one had come to him to speak about their problems or complaints. Balance was restored, for now. That was at least until somebody barged in and screwed everything up. He had waited for everything to fall out of place, but it didn't, it was actually relatively calm and quiet.

 _'_ _Quiet, such a foreign word'_ , Jareth thought to himself.

Conjuring up a crystal, he focused on Sarah's room, a place he desired to go to since he had departed with her. How it truly was that parting was such sweet sorrow. Peering into the sculpted object, he watched as Sarah's small body slightly rose, then fell in a rhythmic pattern. Upon her porcelain skin, her child-like features were displayed in a mix of emotions, most likely caused by a dream.

Glancing at her sleeping form one last time, he summoned up another crystal and blew on it gently, sending it through the invisible wind and to the other side of the castle where Sarah slept. Arriving through a small crevice underneath her door, it changed its shape and reversed into its original form, where it then flew to hover over her where it popped, sending small shimmers of glitter lightly across the bed and pulling the blankets over her form.

A soft sigh of relief escaped her lips and a barely visible grin touched her lips, as if caused by a dream.

With a content smile on Jareth's face, he quietly whispered, _'sweet dreams Precious.'_

With that, he resumed back to his duties, Sarah still in his mind, but maintaining his priority along with it.

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Sarah seemed to swerve in her dreams. At first, she had been brought into a dream of terror, when all of a sudden; everything had become a better scenario. The death of inanimate objects had been restored to their original glorious colors, and the sky had become blue instead of black. What a strange it was when you were living inside your own nightmares.

A soft thud on the ground jolted her awake and reaching for the nearest pillow as a defense mechanism. Looking around, her vision could only make out dark colors until her eyes began to adjust to the different shades of blue and silver. Creeping out of her bed, pillow still at the ready, she peered down at the floor to see that the book she had been reading earlier had slipped off of the pillow next to her and had fallen on the floor.

Letting out a sigh of relief, she placed the pillow back onto the bed and bent down to pick the book up. Studying the cover closely, she noticed that the original faint red color that it had been before had turned to a gleaming white, as if it had been painted by moonbeams.

Looking back at the bed, the back of her mind no longer begged for sleep or food. Rather, it begged to continue her spot in the book. Looking around at the room, she noticed the change in scenery. The once dark colors from the couches and the throws, the canopy around the bed, anything dark in room had changed to silky white and silver colors, as if it had all been bathed in bleach, or as if it had been dipped in white paint and glitter had been thrown atop of it.

It was a rare sight to behold.

Sarah looked down at the outfit she had been wearing, realizing that she was still in the dark blue dress from the day before. She hesitated slightly before creeping over to the closet and stretching her hand out shakily. Since when did she deserve all that she had been given? Was this all a cruel trick being played by the depths of her mind?

As her fingers neared closer to the closest fabric candles lit themselves, as if by electricity without a switch, bathing her in a soft orange glow that was pleasing to her eyes. Sarah embraced the warmth that was being emitted by the candles. One-by-one, Sarah inspected the inspected the expensive fabrics, stretching from Polyester to Mulberry Silk, and gawked at all of the colors that could recreate the entire color wheel.

Sarah searched the closet head to toe looking for the most normal things that she was always familiar with; a pair of ragged sneakers or flips flops, a sweater too many sizes larger than her, and a pair of leggings to cover up the hideous scars that decorated her legs. But to her dismay, there were only gowns and dresses. After searching for a while longer, she came across a forest green linen dress with a crocheted neckline in a diamond pattern, which was matched with the cuffs that flared out. The gown was floor length and the train was fairly short compared the many other dresses and gowns that surrounded her.

Before Sarah began to undress, she quietly tiptoed over to the double doors and twisted the key that hung in the door lock, only to find that it was already locked. She raised a brow in question, but then reminded herself that it was probably already set for her safety. But everyone was so nice as far as she knew, she couldn't think of anyone who would hurt her like her Uncle Phil had, or any of his friends…

Moving back to the walk-in closet, she closed the door behind her quietly, locking it as well, just for extra measures. As Sarah began to undo the laces on the back of the dress, the dress lost its shape beginning at the shoulders and then collapsed completely onto the floor, creating a sea of dark blue at her feet. Looking behind her, Sarah stared at the monster staring back at her in the mirror.

 _She felt ugly. No…. she was ugly._

Her rigid spine protruded from her back and her ribs looked almost as if they were about to burst from the tightness of her skin against them. She then slowly removed the cotton white wrap from around where her rib had been injured, only to see that where she expected to see a lurid bruise amongst the snowy white of her skin looked as if there had been no injury there to begin with.

The cross that had been drawn across her stomach was now only a faint white scar, as were the lashes down her back. It was as if the many torturous wounds that once made her wince only made her stare in wonder. ' _Is this really real?'_ Shaking her head, she quickly changed her undergarments and slipped into the cool fabric.

Thankfully, it was easier to slip the gown on because it had a simple zipper in the back, which saved her a lot more time rather than having to tie laces. Sarah spun back around to look at the monster once more in the mirror. Through the forest green linen fabric, she could see how thin she was, her ribs stuck out like a sore thumb and the dress just barely looked like it fit her. Looking down at her feet, she searched around for the least fancy flats that could make little noise. To her relief, she found a simple pair of white slippers without a heel.

Slipping them on, Sarah unlocked the closet the door and shut it behind her, making her way over to the bathroom next. As the closet had done, when Sarah entered the room, candles lit themselves automatically. The small room had the simple basics, a wash basin, a small fountain that spurted water and a modern day toilet. The fountain was large and circular, just as a sink was, for the exception that it shot water upwards. There were no mirrors in the room, much to Sarah's relief. However, there were several lemons and an unidentifiable powder in a small glass bowl sitting on a wooden stand next to the fountain.

Sarah reached over and touched the white powder with the tip of her index finger, coating it lightly and bringing it up to her nose. Sniffing the powder closely, Sarah could not figure out what the odd substance was, so she simply grabbed the nearest cloth and wiped her finger off. Walking back into the room, Sarah quickly swiped the book from where it had been sitting and unlocked the door, leaving the safety of her room and closing the door behind her.

She grazed down hallways slowly, memorizing her way through the castle so she could not forget to return to her room before dawn came, whenever that was. Warm breezes blew through the many open built windows, letting the air flow through the fabric of the dress as if it was a screen. Her footsteps were silent while walking, so as to not wake anybody who may be close by.

Sarah gazed at the out covering of the book as she walked, admiring the small amounts of glitter that seemed to glue itself on the cover along with the turned white cover, despite the breeze that failed to sweep the glitter away. _'_ _Such a strange book… just as much as this new world is'._ She couldn't help but think to herself. While the new world around her looked threatening, people… or creature…..they kept to themselves or their group of friends. Back on the other side of reality, you could never tell who was really the good and who was really the bad.

All you would have to do is send one glance in their direction to know whether or not you could trust and confide in them. Their eyes, their movements and their words could determine a lifetime of friendship or a lifetime of annoyance or pain. But here, everyone was kind….. Right? They have a King to support them if something happens or if they think they might've stepped out of bounds. That's what a King is meant to do….. Right?

With all of the thoughts racing through her head, she failed to realize the goblins that slept right above her on the ledges that circled all around the throne room. Peering above the book cover every so often, she made sure that she prevented herself from walking into any walls. After all, anything could happen in a place where magic was real. Glancing out the nearest window, a seemingly normal willow tree stood shrouded within tall trimmed green hedges and a small pond. And setting her mind to it, Sarah stumbled upon a door coincidentally leading to the direct location, as if by magic.

Which most likely it was. What else could it have been?

Pushing the door open with little effort, the door swung open to reveal that the willow tree was much larger in size than it had seemingly looked before. Its long flexible branches reached the ground and created a ring of shade around it. It was a small place of private solitude, hopefully a place that she could get used to while being in the strange place that she was. On the left of the willow a cerulean blue pond glimmered in the white moonbeams, leaving a rippling pattern reflecting on the green hedges and the strung down branches of the tree. The water trickled from a small pile of rocks, where it streamed out of gracefully.

Starting at the door, a path of gray stones led across the small garden to the trunk of the willow tree. Moving the long strands aside, vines wrapped themselves around the base to the top of the tree trunk, white pink and red roses on the verge of blooming on the thorn less vines. And wrapped around the base of the trunk was a stone bench, which circled around completely. Sarah stood there in astonishment and surprise.

However in her surprised stupor, she jumped when she heard another voice behind her.

"Who are you? State your name and position at once!"

Sarah froze in fear. Was it her Uncle Phil coming to take her back to her painful reality? Was an unknowing Guard about to kill her if he didn't believe who she was? Millions of thoughts raced through her head, further causing her paralysis.

' _Are my ears ringing? I don't know! What am I going to do? Have I been caught? Just put me out of my misery already!... Okay Sarah…. Baby steps... baby steps. Just turn around and calm down! Oh God! I don't think I can stop shaking! Am I crying? I don't know either! Somebody help me!'_

Letting out a deep breath, Sarah let her head fall down and she turned around slowly and flickered her eyes from the grass up to the shadowy figure standing before her. With a shaky voice, Sarah lifted her head, forcing her eyes to adjust to the darkness.

"M….My name…is….Sarah. Sarah….. Williams. I'm Jareth's….. g...guest". Sarah spluttered out, her fingers fisted themselves in the fabric of her gown, her feet felt as if they would give out at any moment and her head pounded frantically as her heart did. The tall man eyed her strangely. It was only then that Sarah could make out the outline of a crown on the head on the tall man. Panic arose once more, clearly evident in her green eyes.

"You dare call him by his name? You should be lucky you are still living at this very moment! Where did you come from?!" The man hollered loudly.

Sarah cringed at the tone of his voice and spun around quickly to hide behind the willow tree. Shakily, she outstretched her hand and grabbed one of the touch branches above her, her chest painfully tightening, creating an overwhelming sense of fear… of death, and a painful suffocation in her lungs. Dizzily, Sarah kneeled onto the stone bench, her numb fingers only now faintly grasping the branch.

"You're no guest! You reek of the Human World! Tell me now; has Jareth only brought you here to bed you? To make you his bloody whore?! You humans disgust me with your stench and attitude! Your race is the reason our society is failed!" Sarah lowered her head down onto the bench in utter terror.

"You don't even deserve to lick the dirt off my boots you dirty whore!" The man quickly stomped over to Sarah and grasped her by the back of her neck with his gloves and raised her to her feet, his fingers clenching onto her skin as if they were born attached. Sarah weakly kicked and scratched at the man behind her, but no matter her attempts, she failed to save herself.

' _Am I going to die?! I'm so sorry for everything I did! Please just take away my pain, please God!'_

A single tear streaked down her cheek as her feet began to leave the ground. Her lungs seemed to fail her as darkness began to shroud her vision. The moonlight glimmered in her eyes like a light shining from Heaven as she attempted to breathe in. Her chest felt as if a match had been lit and her blood was gasoline.

She was going to explode.

Just as she began to weakly reach her hand out towards the moonbeam, where she swore she could've seen her Father and Step-Mother, outstretching their arms towards her. In a single moment, Sarah knew this was what death felt like. It was the most peaceful, but as well as burning feeling, as though she knew she was leaving someone behind. But in that single moment, she couldn't remember who she was leaving behind.

And just when her entire vision was going to recede to darkness completely, she felt herself flying, then a strong force below her. Through the numbness of her fingers, she could feel the trickling of the serene water, undisturbed by her presence and the grass between the webs of her fingers. The grass combed her hair gently as it blew through the soft breeze, which felt as if it was winter. It was cold. The irises and pupil of Sarah's eyes were wide in a state of shock, panic, and ironically, serenity.

In the background of her serene state, she could faintly hear yelling, followed with grunts and more shouts. Then finally…. Nothing. With a content sigh, Sarah began to close her eyes, but was jolted back to reality, her hearing and vision snapping back to reality. Her chest began to flutter as she sat up coughing. Grasping weakly at her neck, she could still feel the indents of the man's fingers on the back of her neck. Looking up into the moonlight, a white barn owl flew down to the top of the hedge, sitting below the moon.

The Owl's white feathers fluttered as it outstretched its wings in the strong wind. Brown spots decorated its wings and its black eyes stared in pity as Sarah began to sit up. Mr. Owl, bathed in the moonbeams was the most serene sight that relieved her sore eyes. The shadow of the Owl covered both of her eyes, nose to her lips, which were a pale pink and were partly separated, her white teeth showing through the slight gap.

Sarah fumbled for words with a cracked voice, "Mr. O….Your Majes… Jareth?" Her voice emitted fear and her eyes emoted shock, her eyes still dilated to the size of saucers.

Hearing her attempts for names and words, he flew down besides her and landed on her fingers, which were still tangled in the mix of grass and water. Morphing back into his Fae form, he took Sarah's face within his large gloved hands and gazed into her wide eyes, which seemed to be on the verge of insanity.

"Sarah, I need you to focus on my voice, and to breathe in and out deeply", Jareth spoke in a calm and collected voice. His eyes remained attached to Sarah's as he waited patiently for her to return to at the most a feared state. His father had hurt her, almost killed her. Seeing her outstretching her hand in the moonlight while being consumed by the darkness that was his father was utterly terrifying. His precious angel had almost died, by a damned panic attack more than the strangulation.

Her fear had engulfed her, and she had tried to make it into serenity.

Jareth and Sarah sat there facing each other even long after Sarah had begun to respond from her shock. She had been sitting still and shallowly breathing for three hours, and only minutes before dawn, had fainted from the aftereffects. There were no words spoken even after she had calmed down. She had just sat there still staring at him. It was as if their communication could be understood completely just by their eye movements.

Soon after Sarah had fainted, Jareth had returned her to her room, magically lighting the fireplace with one of his signature crystals. The bedding had changed from its original dark purple comforter to a serene aqua, brightening the room. The fabric hanging from the posts of the canopy were now a glitter white and silver, which gleamed across the room from the dawns bright pink and yellow colors.

For hours he sat next to Sarah's bedside, not daring to move until he could assure himself that she was safe. But when her breathing returned back to a normal rate, her left her room quietly, leaving an enchantment on the door behind him in a small cloud of glitter at his fingertips. Minutes later, he was storming the throne room. Goblins hid in fear as the dark aura passed them, bringing their helmets to cover their face. Chickens split in other directions and feathers were left in the flurry hurry.

The High King sat in Jareth's throne; his arms dangled overreach side with a dark look in purple irises, a sneer drawn back on his lips. His foot tapped impatiently on the floor, where a small goblin made small movements to back away. As Jareth came into view the High King took no time to waste assessing the previous situation.

"Jareth, you know very well that that human does not belong here! Am I clear?!"

His look grew darker as his father spoke, "She is my guest! You do not know why she is here and what she has been through so you may not judge. She is under my protection and therefore, she is not your decision!" Jareth hissed in distaste. The High King sent him an incredulous look before firing back.

"Humans are meant to run your damned Labyrinth, save a person within thirteen hours and leave! This is not a residence, Jareth! This is a place meant for you and your future queen. And I promise you this, if you ever plan on marrying a mortal, there will be hell to pay. That whore out there couldn't even answer my questions so how could she answer the questions fit for a queen?!"

Jareth's eyes flared in response to his remarks, "Sarah is no whore, and if I hear those words escape your lips once more, you will feel the true sorrow of your mistakes! Now am I clear to you, Father?" He said, his eyes ablaze with fury.

"So that is the whore's name….. Sarah….." He hissed her name in a spiteful tone. "If I see her once more, it will not result in the same end that it did this time Jareth! That I swear to you". And in a sudden burst of flames, his father was gone, leaving him to contemplate a new plan of security.

Kerberos slowly approached his King and placed a hand on his shoulder in support. Jasreth wanted shake it off, but he knew he was only trying to help. Leading him over to his throne, Jareth sat in complete contemplation. What could he do now?

He knew he couldn't just return back to his duties after what had just occurred. He _needed_ to protect her; he just couldn't let her die. Let alone the thought of her being dead made him sick to no end. Such a beautiful and amazing creature didn't deserve a miserable end after a miserable life. He had to help her.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Jareth? There must be some way I am able to aid you…" H e trailed off, not sure what he could do to help his King at the moment. However, despite his attempts Jareth simply just waved him off, leaving him to deal with something other than him. He was no child, he was simply just confused.

Summoning up a crystal, he let it dance between his fingers, letting it distract him from his problems. However, staring into it more closely, he once again found himself watching a _safe_ and sleeping Sarah. Unbeknownst to her, his father was relentless about having her gone from the Underground…..

But he wouldn't have it. Not at all.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Damn it all to Hell! He refuses to listen to me. This is going to destroy me, and himself is well!" the High King screamed in the isolated room that stood tall above the clouds. He had raised his son to be a dominant and ruling figure over all whom he met, excluding himself and his human mother. _Human._

The High King had married a mortal, a beautiful one as well. Looking up at the delicate painting hanging high above him, her small green eyes glimmered with hope and health, and her lips were small and lightly shaded pink. Her eyelids were colored a silver color which faded as they began flow out to the sides. Her eyes brows were a perfectly shaped dark brown, and seemingly colored in. Her hair flowed down to just above her breasts, with small streaks of gold separated in different portions of her hair. In her arms she held a bouquet of long stemmed golden leaves, which she held onto tightly against her chest. Her pale skin radiated light itself, so bright and warm. Atop of her head sat a golden crown, which peaked up in the shapes of leaves and wings and circled around her head. And finally, she donned a blood red silk turtleneck gown that flowed out behind her as she stood, seemingly string into the distance. The sleeves gripped her arms delicately as she gripped onto the beautiful stems.

Queen Clairese had been the most beautiful child ever collected by the Underground. After being wished away, her family had refused to ever follow her, let alone find her. So being only six, the High King had taken her under his wing to let her grow under his tutelage, so she could know what she was going to face in the new world, even if she was only in the old world for those six years.

Having raised his son at the time, the High King was an old man, and his wife had grown with him as they ruled together, preparing their son for taking the throne in only twenty more years. And in those twenty years, the Prince had looked and stayed exactly the same, only until he met Clairese, the one person he could relate his troubles to involving his father's teachings. The two of them spent several years as friends before an annual winter solstice ball had brought them together. At the time, his Father had wanted him to find a bride as well to help him rule, but had rejected seeing Clairese as the figure of a Queen.

However, when push came to shove, the High King had finally given in after his son had continued his pleading, and continued to reject other women offered to him. He had given him everything from princesses to children of royal blood. It was not a demand that the person had to be from the Underground or a Fae, but it was strongly supported while humans were still looked down on.

But the King was soon proved to be wrong years after seeing Clairese in a queen's position. He saw her kindness and her endless hope for peace and a better kingdom. Houses were restored and repainted. Village markets began to sell fresher vegetables and fruits, and remedies were made for the ill. And for once in generations, the Kingdom was balanced…. That was until the Queen, after a couple thousand years, despite her immortality, was murdered brutally in her sleep.

Leaving his grandchild motherless.

After the dreadful incident, he watched his son's anger go out of control, his anger built up after so many years. And after those years, his rage caused an unknown power to unleash, causing the kingdom that had been restored just recently to peace, fall into despair once again caused by a drought. The power wave unleashed was too powerful for the Grandfather, and in his attempt to stop it from hitting the kingdom, died from the excessive force.

Since then, The High King swore to himself that he would never let his son marry a mortal, for it was never meant to be that way, and never would be. It would just be too painful. And being the only thing he had left of his beloved queen, he wanted his son to know the real dangers that lied in the Underground. The Kingdom's despair turned every citizen into military men, and the women rarely left their small huts.

Over a thousand years later, his son was already prepared to take the throne, even though he wasn't an adult yet. But he was already taught everything he needed, and he had everything he wanted. So he crowned his son the Goblin King, but the High King remained in his place on top of every ruler in the entire Underground. And from that point on, everything involving Jareth was his first priority.

And when he saw that human girl Sarah, he saw Clairese. He couldn't bear to see someone who had such a remarkable resemblance to the love of his life. And he kept his oath to prevent any human from getting involved in his son's life, unless involving the Labyrinth.

But now he faced his own son's rebellion, and once a stubborn one, always a stubborn one.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Oh. My. God. Has it really been eight months since I have updated this story? I am so sorry! I really did catch a horrible writer's block this time. But for anyone who still follows my work thank you so much! I have been really busy lately with SAT's and other issues, but I promise that I am going to work harder on this story!

I refuse to give up! Love you all!

-Emma51020


	6. Clairese

Hey everyone! I'm probably writing this note a month before I probably even finish this chapter, but was happy to see eleven views within the first five minutes, so I felt really happy about that. After a bit of contemplation, I think I might start doing the Talenti challenge as one-shots, because due to bad writers block and leaving my poor followers in the dust… sorry again! But let's get back to the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth in any way, shape or form. If I did… what would I do? Someone give me ideas!

Chapter Six: Clairese

Sarah had woken up in the late afternoon the next day due to lack of hydration, which drove Jareth insane waiting for her to wake. But as soon as she had, he was at her side at moment's notice helping her to the feet and waiting at her every beck and call, from which she had stated herself, "I can do it". She hadn't tried to sound rude, and in no way did Jareth see it in that way.

But he was relieved, for once, to hear those words leaving her mouth. He wanted her to be stronger, and braver. Running was only the first step, but not the right step either. He was confused as to why his Father would attack Sarah in such a brutal way… he knew that he hated humans because of his Mother, but why would he go to that extent?

"Jareth…. When?... Um….. When will I start lessons?" Sarah piped out quietly but quickly adding, "I don't want to sound like I'm in a hurry but… I was hoping I would be able to get my mind off of what happened just recently..." She trailed off, looking down at her feet which she began to start shuffling.

For a split second, Jareth sent a pitying look in her direction, but quickly covered it up as if it had never happened. He inwardly scowled at himself. ' _How can not pity her? This precious angel has been through such Hell'._

"We may start whenever you wish, precious. Your wish is my command. However, I see it fit that we start tomorrow, seeing that our day is almost over. It would also be a great honor to have you dine with me in the dining hall tonight, if you please to". Jareth's eyes darted towards her, but seeing that she had just sat down on the edge of the aqua comforter he offered, "You can also eat in here if you wish; all you have to do is say your answer".

Sarah raised her eyes to his momentarily, "I think it sounds like a good idea to eat in the dining hall. Better if I get my strength back after all…." She added, pushing herself up off the bed and grabbing a long silky navy blue robe that flowed behind her. Underneath it she simply wore a full-sleeve floor length white nightgown with a ruffled collar in a flower pattern. Tying the shirt around her waist, Sarah looked up into Jareth's eyes, then back to his outstretched hand. On instinct, she crossed her hands over her chest, then looked back up to Jareth's eyes, which seemed to frown with disappointment.

Seeing that she didn't feel comfortable taking his hand, Jareth simply dropped his hand back to his side and opened the door for her, letting her leave first, then closing the door behind them, the fire that had been lit in the room extinguishing itself.

The two walked down the hallway slowly, torches lighting themselves within a close distance and putting themselves out after they passed. They were practically motion detectors, well, maybe they were. The two of them walked silently, Sarah's head bent down while Jareth maintained his figure and kept his head held high.

Out of nowhere, Sarah spoke up.

"Who was that man who…. Um….. Tried to… kill me the other day?"

"That was no man…. That was my Father. He does not take kindly to humans being in the Underground due to an issue in the past that he couldn't get past…." Jareth looked down at the sides of Sarah's neck, which was a light purple-ish and green bruise. It had gotten progressively better over the last few days, having started out as black and blue. He cringed inwardly, remembering the sight of the bruise while she had slept peacefully.

"What happened to make him that way?"

"My Mother's murder", Jareth stated in a cold tone. Sarah could feel his warm aura suddenly change and radiate off of him in cold waves towards her.

 _'_ _I shouldn't have asked!'_ Sarah screamed at herself. Now she really did feel bad, he had helped her for so long when she was suffering, so it only felt right to reciprocate the kindness. Sarah tentatively raised a hand up to his back and patted it in support. She too knew how it felt to have a parent murdered after the incident involving her parents and baby brother's death.

"I…..Know how it feels too. It hurts, when you have absolutely no idea what is going on…. Or what's going to happen. All you can do is feel the fear". Jareth nodded silently in agreement, sending a glace of gratitude in her direction. Within minutes after their small talk they arrived in the dining hall and sat on opposite sides of the table.

"So tell me precious," Sarah blushed,"What is your favorite food?"

Sarah was taken aback. How could she answer that question when she was rarely fed growing up? She couldn't even remember what chicken tasted like! Fidgeting with her fingers, she simply shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't have a favorite food…." She spoke in a low voice.

Jareth sat contemplating for a moment before conjuring up a crystal and letting it slide down the table towards Sarah, where it popped open, revealing a large variety of cheeses with crackers. She looked at it with an eyebrow raised, not familiar with any of the assortments on plate. She glanced between Jareth and the plate questioningly.

"Relax, Precious, I wouldn't dare hurt you in any way imaginable". Sarah believed him, but she still wasn't used to the all of the kindness that everyone treated her with. It made her want to cry, but she had cried enough. She was done trying to hide in the shadows and putting up with what she had gone through.

But why was it so hard to trust someone who was trying to help her. Mr. Owl had protected her since she was six! And now he has taken her under his wing and offered a chance at a new future with an education that she had missed out on. And the only thing he asked was for her to stay for an education and to let him help her recover.

Erasing her mind from those thoughts temporarily, she tried to guess the types of food on the plate.

"What's on the plate?"

"They are well known in your Aboveground. The one on the left of the saltine crackers are is Gouda, and next to that is mozzarella. There are other of course on the plate as well, but I'm sure that you'd like to start out with a small portion and proceed from there", Jareth stated, letting a crystal flow against the palms of his hands.

His eyes flickered from the crystal to Sarah every so often, watching how she would tentatively take a small bite out of a slice of one of the cheeses, and then eat more and more at a time. It was amusing and relieving to watch all at the same time. She finished eating quickly, much to his surprise. With a simple swipe of his hand, the food had completely disappeared.

Minutes later, they returned back to Sarah's room, where he lit the fire with a toss of one of his crystals. Meanwhile Sarah quietly slipped off the navy silk robe and hung it up on the bed post. She then crawled into bed underneath the covers, bringing the lightweight cover up to right below her chin and then grabbing the nearest pillow and hugging it tightly it against her.

Jareth did not see her hug the pillow tightly, but heard a small sigh of content, further instilling a sense of overwhelming relief. She would always be safe as long as she stayed _in_ the Goblin City or Castle.

And he would make sure of it.

Spinning around quickly, Jareth left the room without a further murmur to contemplate his thoughts.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"I failed you, and I never meant to. I've been searching for a millennia. But I have yet to find the person responsible for this, but I promise I will. I will not let your death be in vain".

The shadowy figure towered over a rose shrub, which had begun to frost over in a thin layer of silver-like crystals. Small white carnations buds had completely bloomed, making the frost appear brighter than it actually was. The ground on the small cliff had been frozen over in ice, then, in a thick layer of snow. A long time ago, it was the Underground's winter wonderland, the only place that had been kept up after Queen Clairese's death.

Navy clouds crowded the purple midnight sky, making the kingdom look as if had been abandoned. The streets were riddled with hay, livestock and market carts. Houses looked as if they were on the verge of collapsing within themselves and the walls built to keep the city safe from the labyrinth were falling apart, stone by stone.

The moonlight had breaks through the clouds though, a blue moon, which shone upon the Ice sculpture of the deceased queen, who held out her staff in front of her with her eyes closed, as if she was praying to the Gods' above. She was beautiful. As if she had been frozen over in time, just before her untimely death.

The rose shrub sat at the pedestal around her feet, which were glisteningly bare, because she had once claimed that the most freedom she could ever have being a queen was "being able to walk around the castle barefoot without anyone noticing". It was the most stupid thing he had ever heard her say to him, but after begrudgingly trying it as well, he had found it amusing.

The hooded figure fell to his knees in front of the statue and bent his head in front of the rose shrub, whispering small prayers. This woman had been his world. She only deserved the best. She had worked so hard to get everything into a working order, and just as it had gotten to the peak of perfection, it had all crumbled. And she had fallen with it. Her legacy.

The hooded man pulled the hood from his head, revealing himself to the statue. Tears streaked down from his glassy blue eyes and onto his pale white cheeks. The man wore a brown leather coat and a simple grey turtleneck underneath it, along with a pair of black jeans and brown ankle boots. His light brown hair swept across his face to hang in front of his eyes, hiding the emotion in them, while his nude colored lips remained in their natural state. He had spent years trying to reconnect with her, his own sister, who he had never heard of until he had gotten into an argument with his parents for their neglectfulness.

His parents had separate careers, which sent them both on regular business trips, leaving a nanny to watch over him as a child. So when they had finally come home after a month of traveling, he being only a child, wanted some attention, a game, _anything_ that proved they at least wanted to be a part of the little time that he had been with him in his life.

 _"_ _Mommy, why won't you play with me" a five year old Ryan asked, holding up an abundance of stuffed animals. His cheeks were tear-streaked and his eyes were red and puffy. His mother stood in the middle of the family room, on yet another business call that had lasted around an hour._

 _Running to the other side of the room, Ryan looked up to his Father, who was sitting at his desk on his laptop, his eyes focused on the screen in front of him._

 _"_ _Daddy, will you please play with me? Mommy's still on the phone. Please Daddy? Please….."_

 _"_ _I will play with you when I'm done working, sport"._

 _"_ _But daddy..."_

 _"_ _Not right now Ryan"._

 _"_ _But Daddy!"_

 _The man jumped up out of his chair and grabbed Ryan's hand, taking back into the family room where he placed him on the couch and went back to his office, shutting the door and locking it behind him. Ryan looked down at the stuffed animals in his hands and moving them around in different directions. He sat there in his spot for two hours, not moving an inch._

 _His Mother soon after got off of her phone call and spun on her heel to head into the master bedroom when Ryan jumped off of the couch and grabbed the hip of her skirt. His mother looked down at him with bored eyes._

 _"_ _Mommy, can you please play with me now? Please?" He begged as she continued walking to the master bedroom._

 _"_ _Ryan, it's too late to play right now, go to bed"._

 _"_ _Mommy, Daddy told me that he would play with me when he was done with his work, but he still isn't done. Can't you please just play with me?" He held out his stuffed giraffe, which he looked up to her with pleading eyes._

 _"_ _You're just like Clairese, always wanting more and more attention…" She mumbled under her breath. Although it was in a low voice, Ryan still caught her murmur, confused._

 _"_ _Who's Clairese, Mommy?" He tilted his head in confusion."Mommy?"_

 _Throwing her hands up in the air, his Mother blurted out," She was your Sister who you never met!"_

 _Looking up at her with confused eyes he asked, "Where is she?"_

 _"_ _Somewhere you'll never find her". Knowing that his mother wasn't going to play with him at that point, he walked out of the master bedroom with his head hung low, his stuffed giraffe dropped at the foot of the bed._

 _Walking back to his room, Ryan went over to his dresser, pulling open the bottom drawer with some effort and grabbing a pair of pajama onesies. Changing into them, Ryan climbed into his bed and placed his head against the pillow, hugging his pillow against his chest. He felt alone, and he began to wonder if his sister ever felt the same way that he did. The world was a cruel place for children who couldn't understand adult work, and adults who couldn't understand children._

 _As he slowly lulled himself into a peaceful sleep, Ryan felt himself get lifted into the soft arms of a person, who he wished was either his mother or father coming to say good-night for the very first time. Opening his eyes, his blurry vision saw a beautiful woman with spiraled dark brown hair and a gold circlet around her head. Her forest green eyes looked down at his with tears in her eyes. A curved golden pendant hung down from her neck with a silver infinity symbol in the center._

 _Rubbing his eyes, Ryan asked, "Who are you?"_

 _"_ _My name is Clairese," She choked out. "I'm your sister"._

Shortly after being brought to the Underground, Clairese took him in, letting him get to know her before she eventually placed him a King and Queen, who welcomed him with open arms. After being placed with his new parents, Ryan found life to be much happier. For once, he felt loved. They read him stories before bed, they made time to play with him and they gave him the education that any child deserved.

He was crowned Prince when he reach the human year of eighteen. And from there, he received his lifespan of five thousand years as estimated. His privileges were extended and he saw Clairese much more often, at any chance he could get.

So once every week, they would go out to the cliff overlooking the Goblin City and they would enjoy themselves by having a picnic and playing games. They were the best moments in his life.

When he heard his sister had been murdered in her sleep, he fell into a depression that lasted nine hundred seventy three years.

For the first ten years no one had gone near Ryan. They knew him as a charitable and kind man, but his temper could instill nightmares that would last for a lifetime. He locked himself in his room, only coming out at night for food which he would make himself.

As much as King Warin and Queen Shiori tried to comfort him, he pushed them away. He didn't want anybody's pity or their condolences. He just wanted his sister back. He would've traded every day of his life for one last moment with her. _She_ had been the one to save him, of all people. _She_ was there for him through his first transformation, and _she_ had taught him what love felt like.

But for all those years he felt _alone_. He knew he wasn't, but because of her he had learned how to live a happier life. _She_ was the source of his happiness. He didn't know what he would do without her in his life.

"Claire, I miss you. I know that you probably already know that, but I wanted to tell you again, just as much as I know that I told you that I would find your killer and avenge your death nine hundred and seventy four times". Ryan laughed to himself sarcastically.

 _'_ _I really need to find something different to say'._

Ryan took the bouquet of golden and white lilies and placed them in the center of the rose shrub. Saying one last prayer, Ryan lifted the hood over his head and walked over to the iron gate, sealing it behind him.

Seeing the long cobblestone path, Ryan gently grabbed the reins of his Clydesdale horse and began his day long journey back to the Kingdom of Eden.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Sarah woke up the next morning, feeling much more refreshed than she had the day before.

Nirvana was the first word she could think of to describe the wonderful feeling. Sweeping her feet out from under the comforter, she walked over to the bathroom lifted up the nightgown, unwrapping the gauze that she had put back on the night before. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that the lashes on her back were gone. To her dismay, however, the white scar of the cross was still there on her stomach.

She knew from that moment on that no magic could fix that scar, and that it would simply label her as a "survivor". Looking in the mirror, she noticed that she had gained a pound or so. The monster didn't look as hideous as it did the day before. Walking over to the wash basin, she put the plug in the bottom and turned on the water.

Taking her arms out of the sleeves of her nightgown, Sarah watched as it crumbled off her form and pooled at her feet on the floor. She brought her hands to cover her breasts. Forgetting that she closed the door behind her, she did so with a quick, but quiet movement. Turning off the water, she stepped into the steep tub and let herself soak in the scalding water. She felt the hot water burn her skin.

She wanted to scrub her arms with cold water and brush with sharp bristles to fix the feeling, but it felt nice for some unknown reason. Sarah reached over for the hairbrush that sat on the edge of the sink and began brushing her hair slowly, untangling the rough knots that had formed overnight. God, how she wished she could just rip all of her hair out so she wouldn't have to deal with it every day.

Reclining back in the tub she sunk her head under the water and opened her eyes. Her eyesight was blurry, but she could still see the difference in color between the dark brown and the pale white of her skin. She felt calm, and at peace as it was silent under the water. She felt a burning feeling in her chest as her need for oxygen arose. But she stayed under, just because it was so quiet and serene. How could she leave such a beautiful place?

As another minute passed she felt her chest stop trembling from the need to breathe, but her vision started to go more blurry and dark. She felt peaceful, with no worries at all. She could just go to sleep in the quieter, but claustrophobic atmosphere.

Just as her vision completely darkened, the bathroom door opened unknowingly.

"Lady Sarah!" Renatai screamed as she grabbed Sarah's hand, forcing her to surface.

Sarah coughed up a lungful of water onto the floor next to the tub. Refusing to release her hand, Renatai grabbed a fluffy green towel and wrapped it around Sarah as she helped her stand. For a few moments, her legs wobbled, but Renatai kept a firm hand in hers as she helped her step out of the basin.

"What were you doing Lady Sarah? You could've died!"

With exhausted eyes, Sarah looked at her and said, "But it was… so peaceful. It was so calm and quiet. I didn't want to leave".

"But you have people who care about you, Milady".

Sarah looked down in shame, realizing that while it was probably only her and Jareth, it was still someone. Sarah let a tear slip quietly, for no reason at all. Seeing this, Renatai hooked a finger under her chin and had Sarah look her in the eyes.

"Hey, no more of that. Okay? Neither I nor your Majesty likes to see you cry. I know it's hard, everything that you've gone through, but we are here to be there for you. We're here to help get your life back on track. And we're not going to get anywhere if you think negatively. Now, let's get you dressed. You don't want to be late for your first lesson now, do you?"

Sarah shook her head in response.

"Good. Now let's you dressed before breakfast ends".

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Thank you again, your Majesty. I'm honored to have been chosen by you to teach your pupil. What would you like me to teach her today?"

"Government and Status. I will have the rest of her schedule written out by this evening". The Goblin King stated simply." I would appreciate it if you also keep calm with her. She has a rough past, and if I hear anything that I do not like, then it will be to the Bog with you. Am I clear?"

His eyes darkened slightly, but brightened by several shades when she had gulped and nodded her head.

"Good".

A knock on the library door sounded, signaling Sarah's arrival. Jareth straightened his posture.

"Enter".

The door opened with a loud creak, and Renatai guided Sarah over to one of the leather armchairs that sat in the middle of the room. Sarah smiled softly in relief as she sat down… a room that she was actually comfortable in. Renatai wore a simple purple floor-length dress with long sleeves that draped down to her waist.

Sarah wore a yellow floor-length dress as well, only she had a white lace fabric above it with a floral pattern, with transparent beads that hung off of her upper arms. He hair was done up in a curly updo with the top pulled back and rest of it hanging down. There were no traces of any scars on her arms or face, much to Jareth's relief.

"Good morning Jareth", Sarah greeted kindly, the small smile still drawn on her face. He knew this was a big step for her. Interacting.

Returning a genuine smile, he responded.

"Good morning it is indeed Sarah. How are you feeling this morning?"

Sarah stiffened for a moment before responding.

"Much better". She lied. "And you?"

Jareth easily caught onto Sarah's lie and followed along with it, not wanting her to feel uncomfortable.

"Now that you ask, I do feel better as well. As you know, you will be starting your studies today beginning with our government structure. This will be your teacher until further instruction. I will leave you two to review the syllabus and begin your studies".

Jareth disappeared from the room rather quickly after that, leaving Sarah and the other woman to socialize with each other. Sarah shuffled with her feet as she felt her eyes on her.

The world seemed to shrink around her as she seemed to only want to focus on her fingers, her toes, anything. A promise was a promise though, and she didn't want to break it after all he had done for her over the years. So gathering herself together, she made her legs move towards the chaise that sat in the middle of the room. The woman moved herself to a leather armchair across from her.

"My name is Elvera, and I'll be your teacher until further notice. Do you have any questions before we begin?"

Silence met the room, causing an uncomfortable shift in the atmosphere.

"Okay then, let's get started".

"So our government is our people, our government is our people. Regardless of age and gender, anyone can vote from the moment they can form a coherent word to the moment that they breathe their last breath. It was formed this way since the very beginning to prevent any conflicts. And so far it has worked out perfectly. Our King stays the same however, until death. And that is when the citizens elect their new king".

"Our King has been trying his hardest for as long as we can remember to restore our Kingdom back to its glorious days".

This left Sarah pondering for several moments. How could it be so hard to clean up a city when everyone wanted change? Now she had questions.

"What was it like?…. The city of course. What did it look like?"

"It was absolutely beautiful. The streets used to shimmer with white gravel and the grass was so green that it was like a beacon. Everyone was so happy. The sick were healed of any illness and children were able to run around freely. Our town was our castle. Houses had even been reconstructed so that families could all live together in comfort". Elvera smiled for a moment before it sunk down.

"But then Queen Clairese died, and it all went back to ruins. And the Goblin City has been that way ever since. For the citizens now, it's only a dream to return back to that time".

"Who's Queen Clairese?"

"She was your Majesty's Mother. She was loved by all, and the best Queen anyone could ever have. The High King hated humans until he had seen what she had done for all of us. And at the peak of her legacy she was murdered in her sleep. I believe that your Majesty was only a mere ten years old when it happened. The poor boy grew up without his mother while all his father could think about was his new returned hatred for humans. But your Majesty could never bring himself to hate humans because he had fixated a fascination on them".

"Could you tell me more about her? What was she like?" Sarah asked, her eyes glittering with interest.

"I believe that is a question we can go over later. For now let's get back to our studies". Sarah nodded in agreement.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Jareth and Sarah sat across from each other in the Dining Hall silently. She wanted to ask him so badly about Queen Clairese, but was so hesitant to see his reaction if she asked him. Would he scream at her? Confine her to her room? All the infinite outcomes swirled through her mind at once.

' _I think I'll keep quiet for now. Silence always was one of my best qualities'._ Sarah thought to herself.

Jareth decided to break the silence between them and started to ask Sarah normal questions, like "how was your lessons?" or "what did you learn?" And her responses were very short and abruptly ended as soon as they came.

Dinner ended with a painful silence that had lasted another hour.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Jareth had allowed Sarah to leave dinner alone. He could tell something was bothering her, but he didn't even bother to ask. Today was different than most. After he had left Sarah and Elvera to begin her studies, Jareth had gone to his Mother's grave. It had been the anniversary of her death, and all he had wanted to do was avoid the topic. Goblins had come up to him and gave him their condolences and other Kingdoms surrounding the Underground had sent their regards as well.

He grew up with a harsh Father, who had never completely embraced diversity as it should've been, or for what it really was. And there was only so much that he could do to try and change his Father's mind. But he had given up a long time ago. And now he had to fix it all because he had seen Sarah.

Sarah had become the most important thing to him over the years as he watched her suffer. She deserved better, just as his Mother did. His Mother had deserved everything that she had worked for. True happiness. And now she was lying in a cold and dark coffin.

How was that fair?

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a long time. I just started my senior year in high school, so I've had a lot to do since day 1. Thank you to the readers who have continued to stick with my story, I know I'm very slow. But anyways, review, rate, like, love, share, or even follow. Whichever seems the best fitting for this story. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can! Love you all!

-Emma51020


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